Code Dimension
by Number One Fan of Journey
Summary: When Hinata arrives in France, with no memory of what happened and an enrollment in the Lyoko Gang's school, it's obvious something's up. But when more and more ninja arrive, it's clear there's a real problem that could affect both worlds...
1. New Student

**A/N: **I apologize for the odd spacing and any inaccuracies I have here. Enjoy, and review if you like!

"The activated tower is in the arctic sector. I'll send you there right away!"

"Got it, Jeremy," said Yumi as Odd pressed the button on the elevator.

"All right then," Jeremy said, adjusting his microphone and typing on the keyboard of the supercomputer. "Transfer Yumi! Transfer Odd! Scanner Yumi! Scanner Odd! Virtualization!"

"We're here, Jeremy, but I don't see the tower."

"This is as close as I could virtualize you guys. I'll send your vehicles." The Overwing and Overboard appeared. "The tower is due north. Did you guys get ahold of Aelita?"

"Yeah, she should be here any second now."

"All right." Jeremy turned, hearing a whirring noise. "Okay, good, Aelita, you made it. Get to the scanners." Aelita nodded as the doors to the elevator closed and locked. Jeremy virtualized her as well. "Look out, guys, you have company."

"Thanks, Jeremy, I can see that! Laser Arrow!" Odd pointed his wrist at the hornets. His weapon stuck one right in the Eye of X.A.N.A., and it exploded. "Bull's eye! Laser Arrow!" he said as Yumi threw one of her fans at the swarm. The quick-moving hornets dodged the arrow, but two were sliced by the fan, which returned like a boomerang to Yumi. "Try to hurry, guys! I can't reach Ulrich!"

"Oh, no," Yumi said quietly, jumping back on the Overwing. "Come on, Aelita! Let's go!" Aelita hopped on behind her and the Overwing shot off.

"Hey, wait up, guys!" Odd turned around. "Laser Arrow!" The last hornet exploded and Odd jumped on his Overboard, speeding up to catch the Overwing. "Race ya!" Odd sped up, flying ahead. "Oh, no, you don't!" Yumi leaned forward a bit, and the Overwing raced across the ice. Or, rather, right above it. "You're almost there. Careful, there are a couple of tarantulas up ahead."

"Got it, Jeremy." Yumi withdrew one of her fans from its holster.

"It's William!"

"Yep. I'll take the tarantulas!"

"And I'll get Aelita to the tower." Odd nodded and angled his board up, soaring high. "Laser arrow!" he yelled, shooting down one of the tarantulas. The other raised its arms and fired at him. Odd dodged the first laser, but was struck by the second. His virtual form unraveled, and he reappeared on earth. He panted, leaning on the scanner before he rode the elevator back to the control room. "Ugh! Not good!" Yumi said, jumping off of the Overwing to avoid a laser blast. "Yah!" she yelled, throwing both of her fans at the tarantula. "Good job, Yumi!"

"Thanks. Now go get to the tower!"

"Hm!" Aelita ran closer to the tower, but just before she got there, William used Supersmoke to appear in front of her. "Eep!" Smoke surrounded her and she fell limp, floating towards the digital sea. "Oh, no! Aelita!" Jeremy yelled. The smoke dissipated, dropping Aelita over the edge. Aelita froze for a moment before unfurling her energy wings and flying back up. William ran towards her, but a fan almost struck his nose, and he took a step back. "Long time no see, William," Yumi said, now in front of him. William's giant sword appeared, and he took a swing at Yumi. She barely dodged it, drawing out her other fan. "It won't do you any good." William knocked the fan out of her hands with his sword, and it disappeared. Yumi took a glance at the tower and sighed in relief. Aelita was walking in. William swung at Yumi again, and she let herself be devirtualized. Inside the tower, Aelita stepped to the center, swinging her head back and ascending to the next level. Her feet touched the surface, the rings lighting up as she stepped on them. A virtual interface appeared on which she placed her hand. The word "Aelita" appeared on the screen, soon being replaced by "Code". Aelita tapped on the screen and typed out "Lyoko". "Tower deactivated," she said as the binary data around her dropped.

"Good job, Aelita," Jeremy said, typing on his keyboard. "Return to the past now!" He pressed enter. An orb of white light appeared, spreading through the factory and covering everywhere else.

* * *

"So, I guess you made it, huh?" Odd said to Ulrich, Odd pushing a button for something to drink. Liquid poured into the cup.

"Yeah, I made it, all right. No thanks to you."

"Hey, I was going to the factory!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"Oh, just relax, will you, Ulrich? You're still alive, aren't you?" Aelita chuckled, picking up her books on the bench. "Come on. Class is going to start soon."

"Yeah, Ulrich. I need my beauty sleep, you know!" Odd chimed as he put the empty cup in the trash can. Ulrich rolled his eyes and walked into class with the others.

Soon after they were seated, the bell rang. The English teacher closed the door and told the class to get out last night's homework but was interrupted by a faint knocking. The teacher turned to the door and saw a girl peering in. She opened it, exchanged a few words with the girl, and walked her to the front of the class. "Class, we have a new student today. Her name is Hinata." Hinata had short, shiny purple hair, a beige jacket and dark blue pants. Her eyes were a very light lavender, and she had a headband with a metal plate on it tied around her neck. "You can have a seat here, next to Yumi," said the teacher, pointing to the empty spot next to Yumi. Hinata nodded and sat down. Looking closer, Yumi could see that the metal plate on the headband had a leaf inscribed in it. "Please get out your pens, and we'll grade the homework..."

* * *

The bell rang. Time for lunch. Of course, Odd booked it at top speed to the cafeteria, the others following a little more slowly. "Hey, look, it's that Hinata girl again," Yumi said, Jeremy, Aelita, and Ulrich turning to look.

"Mmm-hmm, that's her. Hey, hasn't she been in all of our classes?"

"Now that you mention it, Aelita, I think she has."

"Huh." Odd got his lunch, buttering up the lunch lady as usual for a larger serving. The rest of the gang recieved their lunches as well and sat next to Odd, who was wolfing down his spaghetti. "So, anything new on Lyoko, Jeremy?"

"No, nothing that I know of."

"Oh, okay, then." Aelita forked a meatball. "Oh, look, she's sitting all by herself," she said.

"Well, we aren't talking about Lyoko or anything, so..."

"Why not?" Odd waved at the girl. "Hey, Hinata! C'mon, you can sit with us!" The girl turned towards them. "Oh, um, okay," she said quietly, picking up her lunch and walking towards the group. She sat down next to Aelita.

"So your name's Hinata, right?"

"Mmm-hmm." Hinata twirled some spaghetti with her fork.

"All right, well, I'm Yumi."

"I'm Odd!"

"I'm Ulrich."

"My name is Aelita," said Aelita, placing her hand on her chest, "and this is Jeremy." She pointed to the blonde-haired boy sitting across from her. Hinata nodded, putting her fork in her mouth.

"So, tell us about you, Hinata! What kind of stuff do you like?"

"Adding another girlfriend to your trophy room, Odd?" Ulrich whispered.

"I am not! I just want to know what stuff she likes."

"Uh-huh. I believe you, Odd."

"Oh, just shut it, Ulrich. So what do you like, Hinata?"

"Um, well..."

"Well, well, well! If it isn't the new kid!" Hinata whipped around to see a black-haired girl facing her.

"Hey, back off, Sissi!"

"Oh, yeah? Why should I?"

"Hey, Odd, did you just hear something?"

"Yeah, it must have been the wind. It sounds all weird and shrieky today."

"Uh! You little--Hmph!" Sissi turned her back to them with a pout and walked away. Aelita gave Odd a high-five. "Well done."

"Not bad yourself. You okay, Hinata?"

"Mm-hmm." Hinata picked at the noodles on her plate.

"You don't talk much, do you?"

"Um, well, not really..." _Ring_!

"Uh-oh, there's the bell. See you later, Hinata," Yumi said, picking up her tray and walking away from the table.

* * *

The gang was soon at gym.

"Hey, look, Hinata's in this class, too!"

"Weird. I wonder if she's in all of our classes." Aelita saw Hinata walk up to Jim, hearing her faint voice but not enough to make out the words.

"Well, all right, but as soon as you're better, come back, okay?" The purple-haired girl nodded and walked away. "I guess Hinata's not doing too good," Ulrich said. A muted, urgent beeping came from Jeremy's bag. "Looks like we aren't, either," Jeremy said, sneaking a peek. "X.A.N.A. attack, guys. I'll play sick. Any ideas for the rest of you?"

"We'll figure something out, Jeremy. You go ahead." Jeremy nodded and walked, staggering a bit, to Jim. "Ub, Jib?" Jeremy said, faking a stuffy nose, "Ibe not feeling too well. Can I go to the infirbary?"

"All right, go ahead, Belpouis. I don't want you getting anyone else sick." Jeremy nodded and walked out the door.

He didn't head for the infirmary, of course, speeding his pace until he got to the factory. He sat in the chair, located the activated tower, which was in the mountain sector, and waited.


	2. Jump on the Crazy Train

"All right, Hinata, you can stay in this room until you feel better, all right?" Hinata nodded and sat on the bed. "Get well soon, now!" The nurse closed the door. Hinata laid back on the bed for a while, closing her eyes.

They reopened with the Eye of X.A.N.A. in them.

Now possessed, Hinata mechanically got out of the bed and smashed through the door.

"Hinata, what are you do--Ugh!" The nurse collapsed as Hinata moved towards the gym.

* * *

"All right, guys, let's go," Aelita said, closing the gym door behind the four. The group ran through the woods, Hinata soon blocking their path.

"Huh? Hinata, what are you doing here?"

Hinata bent down and rushed toward Odd, the veins around her eyes bulging.

"What the-?"

Hinata struck Odd in his stomach, and he collapsed before getting back up.

"Hinata, stop! What are--" Aelita gasped. "She's possessed!"

"Aelita, Ulrich, go! Odd and I will hold her off! Looks like X.A.N.A.'s learned a new trick."

"All right." Aelita and Ulrich ran off.

"Gentle Fist!" yelled Hinata, her voice warped under X.A.N.A.'s control. She struck Odd repeatedly around his body, most of the blows concentrated in his chest.

"Yaagh!" Odd doubled over, collapsing and trembling a bit.

"Back off, X.A.N.A.!" Yumi grabbed a fallen branch and rushed towards Hinata.

* * *

"Transfer Ulrich! Transfer Aelita! Scanner Ulrich! Scanner Aelita! Virtualization!" The two landed softly in the mountain sector. "All right, the tower is due northwest. I wonder what his attack is?"

Aelita and Ulrich headed to their left. "It's Hinata. X.A.N.A has possessed her!" Aelita said.

"That's weird. Why would X.A.N.A. possess someone who's sick?"

"Huh! Maybe it wasn't X.A.N.A. who was able to collapse Odd! Maybe it was Hinata!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Hinata poked Odd in the stomach and he collapsed."

"I suppose she could have hit a pressure point, but he wouldn't just collapse!" He paused with a thoughtful frown. "But it makes sense. X.A.N.A. would have no reason to possess a sick Hinata if he could do it himself."

"This is bad. He could keep possessing her and keep holding two of us back!"

"Watch out, guys, some hornets are coming up behind you!"

Aelita whipped around. "Energy Field!" she said, a pink orb appearing in her hand and flying towards the hornets, hitting one, which exploded. One of the two others shot a laser at Ulrich. He quickly drew out his swords and they absorbed the attack. "Energy Field," Aelita said again, the other hornets exploding.

"Come on, I see the tower."

"Hey, guys?"

"What is it, Jeremy?"

"Do you think we should let Hinata be a warrior?"

"What?!"

"Just think about it. Like you said, X.A.N.A. could keep possessing her and maybe even end up killing one of us. But if we let her join the team, she can't be possessed, and we may need her skills to hold off a future attack."

"I guess so. You know, what, Jeremy? I agree. Let's let her on the team."

"We probably should. Now go into the tower." "Right." Aelita entered the tower.

* * *

"Ack!" Yumi was knocked back, panting heavily. "She barely even hit me and I.. can hardly... move!" she said. She rolled over. "Odd! Odd! Odd, can you hear me?"

* * *

Aelita leaned back, floating up to the next level.

* * *

"Odd!" Yumi shook him with no result.

* * *

With Aelita stepping to the center, the rings in the tower lit up as the interface appeared.

* * *

Yumi turned to see Hinata looming over her, the possessed girl's hand back. Yumi yelled.

* * *

Aelita placed her hand on the interface and her name appeared. The word "Code" arose, and she typed out "Lyoko". "Tower deactivated."  
"All right. Return to the past now!" Jeremy pressed the enter key, an orb of light emnating from the factory.

* * *

"Man, that was close!"

"You're telling me, Odd, I thought you were dead!"

"Odd! What exactly are you finding more interesting than English?"

"Um, everything?" The class laughed. There was a knock at the door. Hinata walked in. She and the teacher exchanged words before Hinata sat next to Yumi.

* * *

Lunchtime. Odd sat his tray down, wolfing down his food.

"Lucky attack for you, huh, Odd? You get to eat spaghetti two days in a row!"

"Yup!"

"So, you guys are all okay with Hinata joining the team, then?"

"It's fine with me."

"Uh-huh."

"Yup."

"Mmmfrummf!"

"Hey, Hinata! Come sit with us!" The girl hesitantly picked up her tray and sat by them. The six were finished long before lunch hour was up.

"Hinata, come with us. We want to show you something."

* * *

"So, you're sure you really want me there?"

"Yeah. So you get the gist of it, Hinata?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"All right, just step in that scanner." Hinata nodded and slowly entered the tubelike structure.

"I'll be up here," Jeremy said. "Ready to go?" He climbed up the rungs to the control room.

"Yes."

"All right, then. Scanner, Hinata!" The doors to the scanner closed, and Hinata shut her eyes tightly as a bright light swept past her and a miniature updraft swung her hair up. The breeze died down, and the doors soon opened, releasing a small wisp of smoke.

"All right, you're set. Our returns to the past won't affect you now." Jeremy was in the scanner room now, and Hinata had gotten out.

"Welcome to the team, Hinata!" Yumi said. "Come on, guys, lunch break is almost over! We're going to be late for gym!" Aelita glanced at her new watch.

"Oh, right! Don't want to get Jim angry, do we?"

"Enough with the sarcasm, Odd, let's just get over there."

"I wasn't being sarcastic!"

"Whatever!"


	3. The Heat is on

**A/N** : Please excuse the innaccuracies about building numbers. I had no idea what the campus was like when I first wrote this, and I'm not sure it's possible to fix everything without messing up bits of the plot, so the errors stay.

"All right, everyone, we have a new student. This is Hinata." Jim paused to clear his throat. "Today, we're all going to run on the track. All right, first set, Yumi, Hinata, Sissi, Odd, and DeMille." The five mentioned walked up to the red track, kneeling on the start lines.

"On your mark, get set, go!"

Yumi, Odd, and Hinata shot off, Sissi and DeMille lagging behind. Every once in a while, Hinata would pass her friends, but they would soon retake the lead.

"And first, Yumi, then Hinata, then Odd," Jim said, checking his stopwatch for each person. A moment later, "Then DeMille, and Sissi. All right, you five go back. Next match-" Yumi turned to Hinata, not listening to Jim anymore. "Hey, you run pretty fast."

"Oh, um, thanks." Odd overheard the results of the last sprint. Jim started to read the names of the next five. "Uh-oh, it's Einstein's turn," he whispered.

"Huh? Who's that?"

"That's just one of Jeremy's nicknames."

"Oh, okay." Hinata sat next to Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich on the bleachers.

"Ready, set, go!" Odd snickered a bit at Jeremy, who was struggling, and failing, to keep up with the others.

* * *

The final bell rang. The gang of six walked towards their dorm building. "So you're in building 2, too, Hinata?"

"Mmm-hmm. That's what my paper says."

"Let me see." Hinata got a piece of paper out from one of her folders. Aelita took it and looked at the room number.

"What do you know? We're roommates!"

"Really?"

"Yes, come on, I'll show you around the dorm!"

"All right." Hinata put the slip of paper back in her folder and followed Aelita. They walked through a wide corridor after climbing the stairs to the second floor. Aelita opened the door to her room. "Here it is," she said. Hinata lay down her things on the vacant cot and sat down. Hinata began to unpack, spreading a bedsheet, which was neatly folded on the bed, over her new bed. There was a knock at the door. "Who is it?" Aelita called.

"It's me." Aelita opened the door, the principal entering. "I see you've made it to your new dorm, Hinata. Just making sure everything is okay."

"Yes, sir, everything is fine."

"All right, then. I'll see you girls later." Principal Delmas closed the door behind him.

"You're going to like it here at Kadic, Hinata," Aelita said, helping her roommate unpack.

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, it's really nice here." Aelita's pink cell phone started ringing. She picked it up off of the desk. "Hello? Oh, okay. We'll be there in a minute. All right, see you there." Aelita hung up. "It's Jeremy. He wants to check your powers on Lyoko."

"Um, all right." Hinata set down her folder on her now-made bed. "You ready, then?" Aelita said, placing her phone in her pocket. "Mmm-hmm." Hinata opened the door.

* * *

"Transfer Hinata! Scanner Hinata! Virtualization!" Hinata appeared, and, having little idea what was going on, almost landed on her face. "Oh, careful, you're always virtualized aways from the ground. Sit tight and let me check out your info here." Jeremy pulled up a card with a picture of the virtual Hinata. "All right, it says for your weapon, you have throwing knives. Can you find those?"

Hinata checked her right leg first. "Mmm-hmm, they're here," she said, taking out a kunai.

"And it says your special ability is... Gentle Fist? You just have to go up to a monster's Eye of X.A.N.A., put your hand up to it, and say, "Gentle Fist."

"Oh, all right."

"Here, I'll send you a training dummy." Jeremy typed for a minute and pressed enter. A block appeared before Hinata. "You can practice on this. It won't hit you back like regular monsters, though."

Hinata placed her hand on the target-like mark on the block. "Gentle Fist," she said, a blue burst appearing from her hand. The block exploded, Hinata's arms shooting up to protect her face.

"Good job. I'll go ahead and bring you back now." Jeremy typed some commands. "Devirtualization."

A minute later, Hinata was back in the scanner room. "This is what it'll be like when X.A.N.A. attacks," Aelita said, helping Hinata out of the scanner.

"You're staying at Kadic, right? Supper is soon!"

* * *

"Hinata, you've only been here for three days, so I'll cut you some slack for now, but be sure you don't do it again, all right? We don't accept late work here."

"Sorry."

"All right, now go--" The bell rang. "You can just go to lunch, then," said the art teacher. Hinata nodded, got her books, and walked to the lunchroom.

* * *

Soon Aelita, Jeremy, Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, and Hinata were all seated. "So, anything new on Lyoko?"

"Not right now. It's been a little too quiet lately. I'd stay on my toes if I were you guys."

"Right." A bell rang. It rang again. And again.

"Fire!"

"Probably just something small."

"Yeah. Maybe even a drill." Yumi led the others to the track.

"Everyone stay calm. It's just a small fire," they overheard Jim say. "Is it inside the school, Jim?"

"No, it's not, Belpouis, it's right outside, in the park near the administration building. We've called the fire department already."

A beeping emnated from Jeremy's bag. "Uh-oh," he said, pulling out his laptop.

"We have to go." Jeremy started to walk away. Jim grabbed him and set him back down.

"You're not leaving this field until the fire is out. None of you are."

"No, you don't understand--"

"I understand perfectly fine. This is a law, Ishiyama, everyone has to be here."

"Hey, Hinata?"

"Huh?"

"I think we need your help with something." Ulrich whispered in her ear.

"Uh, but, are you sure?"

"Yeah. Go ahead."

"Go ahead and wh--" Hinata struck Jim in the chest.

"We need to go, now!" The group ran towards the factory. Jeremy jumped back.

"Oh, no!" The fire had started to spread through the woods, cutting them off from the sewer entry. "What rotten timing," Yumi said, thumping her hand against an intact tree.

"I wonder...Maybe this is X.A.N.A.'s attack?"

"It would make sense."

"Yeah, yeah, are we going or not? We could always take the other way to the factory!"

"It'll take way too long. The fire is likely to come after us, too."

"But how are we going to get there, then?!"

"I guess there's really only one thing to do. We have to try to go through the fire."

Everyone looked blankly at Jeremy for a moment as his words sunk in.

"Go through the fire?!"

"Well, I guess we'll have to try it. Who goes first?" Everyone was silent.

"Well, no matter what, I have to go, so..." Aelita stepped closer to the conflagration.

"Huh! Aelita, are you sure?"

"I have to try, Jeremy."

"I-I guess so..." Aelita took a deep breath and held it for a moment.

"All right, here we go!" Aelita squeezed her eyes tight and sprinted through the fire. "Mm!" She ran faster, trying to put out her flaming jacket. "There's the sewer!" The manhole was untouched by the fire. "But there's no way I can touch it!" Aelita said, holding up her shirt sleeve to filter out the smoke. _But I have to try_, she thought. Aelita kicked one side of the manhole, and it flipped a bit, but it fell back on top of the hole. "Umph!" Aelita stomped on it, kicking back the other side. The manhole cover flew into the fire, and Aelita jumped down. "I made it, guys," she yelled, hoping they would hear.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, it was Aelita!"

"Good, she made it. All right, I'm going in, too."

"Yumi, are you sure?"

"Yeah! If Aelita made it, so can I!" Yumi shot through the flames.

"I'm going, too!" Ulrich followed his friend.

"Um, are you going, Odd?"

"No way! Are you insane? There's no way you're getting me in there!"

* * *

"The three of us should be able to handle things, don't you think?" Aelita said, exiting the sewers with Yumi and Ulrich behind her.

"Yeah." The three swung down the ropes and got in the elevator. "I'll virtualize you guys, then go in myself. I saw Jeremy's laptop; we'll be able to get to the tower without our vehicles."  
"That should work, then." Aelita entered the computer room, Yumi and Ulrich descending to the scanner room.

"All right. Transfer Yumi! Transfer Ulrich! Scanner Yumi! Scanner Ulrich! Virtualization!" The two appeared in the mountain sector.

"All right, my turn." Aelita typed until a window popped up with a thiry-second timer on it. She climbed down to the scanner room and got in the vacant scanner. She was soon virtualized.

* * *

"I think I'm going, too."

"What, are you crazy? Come on, Einstein, they can handle it!"

"Yeah, but no one'll be at the controls! What if they need me?"

"Oh, just relax- Hey!" Odd yelled, Jeremy dropping his laptop and running into the fire.

* * *

"All right, the tower is to the north of us," Aelita said.

"And so are some kankerlots!" Yumi threw a fan at the group, slicing one before her weapon returned to her.

"Energy Field!" Another one down. The last two fired lasers at Yumi and Ulrich, both shielding themselves with their weapons.

"Hyah!" Two fans went flying, and the remaining monsters exploded.

* * *

Jeremy panted through his sleeve. "Yowch!" he yelled, waving his leg around with the burning pants leg on it.

"Jeremy!" Odd called, climbing up a tree to try and locate his friend.

* * *

"We're almost there." The three closed into the tower, and Aelita rushed ahead of them. "William!"

* * *

"Stop, drop, and roll, stop, drop and roll..." Jeremy whimpered, spinning around with no effect.

* * *

"Yah!" William swung his sword at Yumi, who was the closest. "We'll take care of him! Get to the tower!" William fired a beam at Aelita, who unfurled her energy wings and flew up, heading towards the close tower.

* * *

_It's not working_, he thought, getting up and running blindly having lost his sense of direction. _Ugh... The smoke... _Jeremy coughed and fell forward.

* * *

Aelita entered the tower, leaning back to ascend to the next level. She stepped on the rings, which lit up one by one.

* * *

Jeremy closed his eyes and let out a wail.

* * *

The interface appeared, and Aelita placed her hand on it. Her name appeared, fading to show the word "Code".

* * *

Jeremy's eyes closed, and he lay still, the fire raging around him.

* * *

Aelita entered "Lyoko".

"Tower deactivated," she said. Ulrich saw the fog around the tower turn white. He looked at Yumi, who nodded and struck him with her fans. He appeared in the real world, rushing up to the control room. "Return to the past now!"

* * *

"That was way too close."

"I know. I was thinking you wouldn't be crazy enough to come after us, but..."

"You're telling me!" Odd peered out the window, tapping his fork against his empty tray.

"Well, it looks like the forest is okay."

"Yeah. At least that."

"Time for gym, I guess."

"Yup. Let's go."


	4. New Arrivals

**A/N**: Once again, please ignore the building number discrepancy...

"Good morning, class. It seems we have some more new students today." The English teacher opened the door. Hinata gasped. A boy with a fuzzy-hooded jacket over his head entered, as did another boy with a stiff green vest and his black hair tied back in a ponytail.

"Everyone, this is Kiba, and this is Shikamaru. Shikamaru, you can sit over there by Odd, and Kiba, there's an empty spot at the table in front of Hinata."

"Huh? Hinata?" The teacher pointed to the purple-haired girl. Kiba sat down in front of her and turned around. "You're here, too, huh? Nice to see you're all right."

"You, too, Kiba."

"All right, that's enough. Now, we'll continue on our indefinite pronouns chapter. Everyone that has it, get out their list." Papers shuffled, and soon the sound quieted. "All right. We'll start by reviewing the singular list..."

"...Very good. Someone name another. Shikamaru, do you know any?"

"Shikamaru?"

"Shikamaru!" The teacher walked up to him. She took his English book and slammed it on the desk.

"Aah! Wha?"

"We do not sleep in this class, Shikamaru!" The boy yawned and swept his hand over his eyes. "Do you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah, I hear you," he mumbled. "It's kind of hard not to."

"Shikamaru! You're not making a very good impression!" Shikamaru put his head and arms on the table.

"Man, what a drag."

"Young man, you are very close to getting detention!" Shikamaru groaned.

"All right, fine. Sorry." The lunch bell rang.

* * *

"Um, guys?"

"Yes, what is it, Hinata?"

"Well, um, do you mind if I sit with Kiba?"

"What, you know him or something?"

"Oh, well, yes, sort of."

"Go ahead."

"Oh, all right." Hinata walked out of the lunch line and sat at the same table as Kiba and Shikamaru.

"Hey, Hinata."

"Hi." Kiba dropped his voice a bit and said, "So this is where you ended up, huh?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"I still have no clue what happened. This is all just such a drag."

"Are you sure? You don't have any idea?"

"Nope. It could always be some sort of jutsu, but however they sent us here... Man, I can barely remember a thing."

"Really? Me too."

"That makes three of us. Or, really, four. Right, Akamaru?" The white dog popped his head out of Kiba's jacket and yipped.

"Oh! Careful, Kiba, dogs aren't allowed here."

Akamaru let out a questioning, "Aroo?" and went back inside Kiba's jacket.

"You've gotta be kidding me! Oh, well. Akamaru and I can figure something out."

"I'm sure you can, Kiba."

"You bet we will!" Kiba finished off his tray, slipping a piece of beef to Akamaru.

* * *

"See ya later, Hinata. My room's way over in building 6."

"Okay. Bye, Shikamaru!"

"Mine's in building 2."

"Oh? So is mine. It's this way."

"Okay." Hinata led the way to the building.

"Here, let me see what my room number is," Kiba said, taking a slip of paper out of his pocket. "Can I see?" Hinata said, peeking from behind him. "Oh! It looks like you're roommates with Jeremy."

"Huh? That one smart kid from... Hey, wait, he's in all but one of my classes!"

"What a coincidence."

"Well, go ahead to your room, Hinata. I'll see you later!"

"Okay, bye, Kiba!"

Kiba walked over to his new room. "This looks like it," he said, opening the door.

"Huh? Who's there?" Jeremy spun around to face the door and covered his computer.

"I'm your new roommate." Kiba looked around. "Where's my bed?"

"There's only one in here right now. I guess they'll probably get one for you soon."

"Oh, okay. Hey, can you keep a secret?"

"Um, yes, I believe so. What--"

"All right, then." Kiba crouched down and unzipped his jacket. Akamaru jumped out.

"Whoa!"

"You're not gonna tell them Akamaru's here, right?"

"Oh, um, sure. Just don't let him get in my stuff."

"No problem, right, Akamaru?" Akamaru stuck his tongue out and panted.

* * *

Soon mealtime had passed, and it was 10:00. Jim had come in and had set up a cot for Kiba to sleep on until they could get a regular bed in.

"Well, I think I'm gonna hit the hay," Kiba said, stretching.

"All right, go ahead," Jeremy said, still typing on his computer.

"Man, what are you working on this late, anyway?"

"Nothing! Nothing."

"O-kay... Well, see you in the morning."

"Right."

* * *

The final bell rang, and Kiba and Shikamaru darted out of class.

"Man, this school is such a drag. It's nothing like the Ninja Academy. I can't sleep for half a second here without getting yelled at."

"I know. And I have to wait all day before I can see Akamaru!"

Shikamaru sighed. "Yeah, not much of a place."

"I got time. Wanna get out of here for a while? I saw a forest just past the track."

"Sure, why not. It's not like there's anything else to do." The two changed course a bit.

They soon reached the woods. "I don't know about you, but I feel like jumping through here!"

"Sure, go ahead." Kiba jumped on top of a branch and started jumping through the trees, Shikamaru walking leisurely behind.

"Whoa! Shikamaru, check this out!"

"What is it?"

"Just come on!"

Shikamaru caught up with Kiba. "It's a building."

"Yeah, come on, let's check it out." Kiba grabbed onto one of the ropes hanging from the ceiling and dropped down.

"I'm not too sure about this, Kiba."

"Oh, come on! Quit being such a scaredy-cat!"

"All right, fine, I'm coming." Shikamaru slid down the rope and followed Kiba into the control room.


	5. Interference

"Whoa, this is awesome! What is it?"

"Some sort of computer, looks like." Shikamaru sat in the chair and noticed a pile of papers. "Hey, what's this?" he said, picking it up.

"Huh? What is it?" Kiba asked, looking over Shikamaru's shoulder.

"Notes on how to work this thing. Looks like you get teleported to some place called Lyoko."

"Whoa, cool! Send me there!"

"Are you nuts? Who knows what'll happen if I mess up?"

"Hey, you can figure it out, Shikamaru! You're supposed to be a genius, aren't you?"

"Well, yeah, I guess..."

"Then let's try it! Where am I supposed to go?"

Shikamaru leafed through the papers. "Someplace called a scanner," he said. "Well, it has to be big enough for you to get inside. Let's look around."

The two soon found the scanner room. "Hey, maybe this is it!" Kiba said, getting inside one of the tubes. "Go ahead and start it up, Shikamaru."

" 'Kay, I'll try." Shikamaru climbed up the rungs back to the control room.

He went through the papers again and put on the earpiece. "All right, then, here we go." Shikamaru started typing on the computer. "Transfer Kiba! Scanner Kiba! Virtualization!"

A whirlwind swept off Kiba's hood before he materialized on Lyoko.

"Whoa!" Kiba narrowly landed on his feet, soon taking a glance around. "Hey, this place is pretty cool," he said, glancing around his orange surroundings. He had landed in the desert sector, although he didn't know it. He glanced down at his new clothes. He was wearing a long-sleeved red shirt with yellow streaks on it and bright yellow shoulder armor. He was also wearing matching pants and shoes and had small blades attached to his hands.

"Hey, Kiba! Something's coming up behind you!"

"Huh?" Kiba whipped around. There was a block coming towards him. "No big, I got it," Kiba said, rushing towards it. He slammed a kick right into its Eye of X.A.N.A. Nothing happened. Kiba flinched a bit. "What the? I didn't even hurt him at all!" The block whirred around, shooting a laser towards Kiba.

"Whoa!" He jumped out of the way.

"Hey, Kiba! Try the blades!"

"Huh? These?" Kiba held up his arm. "Well, I guess it's worth a shot!" Kiba rushed toward the block, stabbing it with the blade. It promptly exploded. "That's more like it," Kiba said, letting his arm fall back to his side. "So, what now?"

"Why are you asking me? It was your idea to go in there in the first place."

"Whatever. I guess I'll just explore for a while."

"Go ahead, I'll be right here."

"Just don't fall asleep, Shikamaru, all right?"

"Fine." Shikamaru got the notes back out and started to look over them.

* * *

"Uh-oh," Jeremy said, a window popping up on his computer screen. He dialed up his friends. "X.A.N.A. attack. Activated tower in the desert sector. Meet you at the factory."

* * *

Jeremy soon made his way there, and everyone but Yumi was already waiting.

"Ready, guys?"

"You bet." The five slid down the ropes and entered the elevator.

* * *

"Huh? What's going on?" Shikamaru turned around, hearing the elevator go up.

"Hey, check this out, Shikamaru!"

He turned back to the computer.

"What?"

"This building thing just turned red!"

"Hey! Who's there?!"

"Huh?" Shikamaru turned back around.

"Uh! Shikamaru, what are you doing here?"

"Yeah!"

"Hey, don't blame me. It was Kiba's idea to come in here in the first place."

"Kiba? Where is he?"

"In Lyoko."

"Hey! How do you know--" Shikamaru held up the notes loosely.

"Jeremy! What were you thinking, leaving the notes by the computer?!"

"Actually, Odd, you did it."

"Yeah? Well--"

"Aw, just button it, Odd."

"Fine. But how the heck did you understand that blabber, anyway?"

"Huh, this? Well, it's really not that hard once you figure it out."

"How long have you been here?"

"I don't know, five minutes, maybe?"

"Five minutes?! You figured that out in five minutes?!"

"Um, yeah."

"Hey, Shikamaru!"

"What?" Shikamaru put the earpiece back on.

"Some other guy is here!"

Aelita gasped. "William!"

"We need to get there now." Ulrich got in the elevator, all but Jeremy following.

"Give me my seat."

"Nope." Shikamaru leaned back, placing his hands behind his neck like he did so often.

"What?!"

"I said nope."

"Why?" Shikamaru didn't respond. He leaned forward, typing. "Transfer Aelita. Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Odd. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Odd. Virtualization."

* * *

"All right, we're here, Jeremy."

"Mmmf!"

"Huh? You okay?"

"I'm... fine! Shikamaru just won't... move!"

"Will you stop that?"

"Ow!"

"Hey! What'd you do to Einstein?"

"I just elbowed him." He cleared his throat. "The tower's due south of you guys. All right, transfer Hinata! Scanner Hinata! Virtualization. Kiba, you doing okay?"

"Yeah! This guy's pretty hard to dodge, though!"

"Just keep it up. Hinata and her friends'll be there any minute. Careful, guys, some hornets coming up on your left!"

Aelita turned around. "Energy Field!" she yelled, aiming at the three monsters. They all dodged as Ulrich pulled out a sword. He grunted, throwing it at one, which then exploded, taking the sword with it. The other two hornets started throwing lasers. Odd dodged, got on all fours, and rushed up a rock. "Laser Arrow!" he yelled, taking out another monster. Hinata threw a kunai, but it missed. The hornet fired a laser at Ulrich as Hinata threw another kunai to finish the hornet off.

"Careful, Ulrich, just 20 life points left!"

"Jeez, you really did get that whole packet done, didn't you?"

"Yeah. You have a clear path to the tower, except for that William guy. Kiba, careful! I checked your weapon summary, you can block with it, too."

"All right, all right, quit being so bossy, Shikamaru! Umph!" Kiba stuck out his arm to stop William's sword. There was a loud clang. An arrow zoomed in and struck William back.

"About time you got here!"

"Hey, is Jeremy okay? I haven't heard him since you knocked him back."

"Let me see." Shikamaru turned around. "Ugh!" A bolt of electricity smashed him against the computer. He got back up to see a man with the Eye of X.A.N.A. in place of his pupils.

"What the?" Shikamaru glanced down to see Jeremy knocked out on the floor.

"Everything okay, Shikamaru?"

"I'm fine, but I can't say the same for Jeremy!"

"What?!"

"Aelita, watch out!" Odd jumped in front of her, William's sword striking him and not his friend. He was devirtualized and reappeared on earth. Making his way to the control room, he overheard Shikamaru. "All right, I guess I don't have much of a choice!" Odd climbed up the final rungs to see Shikamaru facing some brown-haired guy and doing something with his hands. He made a final hand sign and said, "Shadow Possession Jutsu!"

"Huh?" Shikamaru's shadow shot forward and merged with the man's. "All right, guys, hurry up! Everything's under control here!"

"Right." Aelita said. "Energy Field!" She shot an orb at William, then flying up on her energy wings to the tower. She entered as her wings dissipated. She was soon on the higher floor, placing her hand on an interface. Her name appeared for a moment, then Aelita entered the word "Lyoko".

"Tower deactivated."

"Good." Shikamaru relaxed, and the shadows returned to normal. A black smoke receded from the man, who then collapsed.

"Launch a return to the past, then."

"All right." Shikamaru sat back down and typed. "Return to the past now!"

* * *

"See ya later, Hinata, my room's way over in building 6."

"Oh, okay."

"Huh? Didn't he already say that yesterday?"

"Oh, they never got to tell you, did they? Well, um, do you remember when Aelita told Shikamaru to launch a return to the past?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well, it's actually yesterday right now. And Shikamaru doesn't remember anything about what happened."

"Huh? Are you serious? Wait, then why do we remember?"

"Because we got in the scanners. I- I really don't know what happened, but once you go in the scanners, the return trips don't affect you."

"Weird. Okay, so I gotta get back to Jeremy's room again." Akamaru popped his head out of Kiba's jacket, and Kiba patted his head before the dog went back into his owner's jacket.


	6. Initiation

**A/N**: There may be some personality blurbs in here... Ah, well.

"I'm sure you could go ahead and sit with us, Kiba."

"Yeah, probably." Hinata and Kiba sat down with Aelita, Jeremy, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi.

"Yeah, so I'm going to have to adjust the Skidbladnir in case X.A.N.A. tries to make another replika. Oh, hey, guys." Kiba and Hinata sat down.

"Sitting with them today?" Shikamaru set his tray down and sat.

"Oh, mmm-hmm."

"Hey, Jeremy? What do you think about one more?"

"No way, Odd, we have enough as is."

"Yeah, but he did figure the whole thing out just from the notes."

"Still, we don't need any more."

"But, Jeremy, there's something else." Odd leaned over and whispered into Jeremy's ear. "What the heck are they talking about?" Shikamaru muttered to Kiba.

"Well, actually-"

"Don't tell him, Kiba! We have to work things out first." Jeremy turned to Odd. "Did that really happen, though?"

"Yeah! We could use him, Einstein. Even if he doesn't actually go... Well, you know where."

"What are you guys talking about?"

"One second." Odd and Jeremy whispered to the others what happened. Aelita, Jeremy, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi closed in in a small circle, then nodded.

"So we're all agreed, then?"

"Yeah, definitely."

"Uh-huh."

"Yup."

"Mmm-hmm."

"What?! What are you talking about, already?!"

"All right. So how are we going to tell him?"

"I guess we could just give him the notes. He figured it out last time."

"What, what already?!"

"Here, I think I have a copy in my bag." Jeremy fished through the side pocket on his laptop bag before pulling out a pile of papers that were stapled together. "Here," he said, handing it to Shikamaru.

Yumi looked at the clock. "Uh-oh, lunch is almost over."

"All right, Shikamaru, you can have that, we'll explain later." Jeremy slung his bag across his shoulder and walked out of the room with Aelita.

* * *

The final bell rang. Shikamaru soon met up with the rest of the gang.

"All right, so what exactly is this about?"

"It's a virtual world we access through the supercomputer."

"No, I get that. I mean, why are we doing this? Just for the heck of it?"

"Well, you see, X.A.N.A. is trying to destroy the world. He activates towers so he can access the outside world. By us deactivating them, he returns into the network. But he can do some pretty serious damage outside, so we have to deactivate any tower that comes up."

"Oh, all right. And what about the return to the past? You didn't really go into detail here."

"The return to the past sets everyone back a day, and any damage X.A.N.A. has done is erased. However, if someone gets killed, we can't reverse it. And also, if you haven't been in the scanners, your memory gets wiped for the day that we skipped back over. In fact, you had already read those notes and did really well on the supercomputer, but you hadn't been in the scanners, or to Lyoko, for that matter, so you can't remember a thing."

"Mmm-kay. So if you guys do another RTTP, I won't remember anything?"

"Exactly. Except..."

"Except what?"

"We think we want you on our team."

"I thought so, but... Why?"

"Well, last time, you did a great job on the supercomputer, you kind of kicked me out of my chair, but..."

"And did you really do that thing with your shadow?"

"Huh? You mean my Shadow Possession?"

"Yeah! That's what you said!"

"Well, yeah, I can do it, although, once again, I really don't remember a thing."

"Come on. Let's get you in the scanners."

* * *

"All right. Ready, Shikamaru?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Okay. Transfer, Shikamaru! Scanner, Shikamaru! Virtualization!" Shikamaru appeared on Lyoko, landing on his feet.

"All right, you're going to have to fight some monsters to build up your resistance to X.A.N.A."

"What do you mean?"

"I've been in the scanners, but up until a while ago, I hadn't actually been to Lyoko. I was possessed by X.A.N.A., so we figured out that we need to fight on Lyoko for a while if not all the time."

"All right, if you say so." Shikamaru sat around for a while. "Is anyone showing up or not already?"

"Not a monster in sight, it looks like." Shikamaru sighed. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"How long am I gonna be in here, anyway?"

"Until a monster shows up, I guess."

"Wake me up when somebody comes."

"You can't sleep on Lyoko."

"Aw, come on! This is such a drag! Am I ever gonna get to sleep?!"

"Well, you'll be able to at night!"

"All right, whatever." Shikamaru leaned against a tree. "So what can I do here, anyway?" he mumbled, sweeping his hand through the air. An interface appeared.

"Huh? What'd you just do?"

"I just pulled out my summary." Shikamaru sat down, reading over the bluish surface.

"But... Wha?"

"What's the big deal?"

Aelita giggled. "Jeremy never figured that out. Looks like we might just have another brain here!"

"If you say so." Shikamaru contacted the interface, opening another screen. "So no weapons. Looks like all I can do is my Shadow Possession. Oh, well." Shikamaru put his hands behind his head and leaned back, the interface dissapearing. "So still nobody?"

"Nope. No, wait! Here comes a krab!"

"Finally!" Shikamaru got back up, assuming a battle position. The krab got closer to him. "All right, then! Shadow Possession!" Shikamaru's shadow shot forward to the krab's. The monster froze.

"Okay... What now?" Odd asked, leaning against the side of the keyboard. "Hey, get off of there!" Jeremy said, shoving his friend's hand away.

Shikamaru looked around. "All right, I think I got it," he said, backing up. The krab did so as well. Going a bit sideways, the Lyoko warrior continued to back up, and so did the krab.

"Oh! I get it now!"

"Yup." Shikamaru backed up another step, and the krab fell over the side of the forest sector.

"Release!" The shadow between the two dissipated, and the krab careened into the digital sea, deleting on contact.

"Whoa!"

"All right, can I go back now?" Shikamaru yawned.

"Yeah, you should be able to. Devirtualization!" A while later, Shikamaru reappeared on earth.

"Hey, give it back!"

"Ulrich!"

"Hey, break it up, you two!" Jeremy swiped Odd's sandwich and gave it back to him. The seven rode the elevator down to the scanner room.

"You did a good jo-" Jeremy stopped. Shikamaru was slumped up against the side of the room, asleep.

* * *

"So you're officially a Lyoko warrior now!"

"Yeah, I guess so. Probably won't be there much, though. I'd rather be running things from the outside."

"Yeah, you probably would be better there, but you're not getting me out of my seat again!" Everyone laughed.

"All right, Aelita and I are staying to work on more spaces for the Skid."

"Okay, go ahead." Shikamaru yawned. "I'm gonna make up for lost time. See ya."

"Wait, what's the Skid?"

"Well, Kiba, it's kind of complicated, but to summarize, X.A.N.A. sometimes makes copies of sectors outside of Lyoko. If we destroy it, X.A.N.A. gets weaker, but we have to go through the digital sea to get there. If you go into the digital sea, you get deleted. But we've come up with a submarine that can get us there without being deleted."

Kiba shrugged. "Still don't really get it, but all right."

"Yeah, like I said, it's kind of complicated, but you'll be able to see for yourself once X.A.N.A. makes a replika."

"Mmm-kay. I'm gonna get back to Akamaru, then."

"Akamaru? Who's that?" Odd interjected.

"Oh, he's my dog."

"Really? We might have to let him meet Kiwi sometime!"

"Is he your dog?"

"Yup!"

"Maybe. But for now." Kiba walked into the elevator. "Wait, what's the code for this?"

"It's 5952. Hey, wait, we never told Shikamaru that, did we?"

"Looks like he made it out okay." Kiba shrugged and pushed the buttons. "See ya."

"Bye." The elevator's doors closed.

* * *

"Shikamaru! How many times do I have to tell you not to sleep in class?!"

"I dunno."

"Well, if me telling you isn't enough, I guess we'll just have to try detention!"

"What?! Aw, come on!"

"That's enough out of you, Shikamaru!"

"... What a drag..." Shikamaru put his chin on his desk. The final bell rang.

"Just stay in here, Shikamaru!"

" 'Kay." Shikamaru put his hands underneath his head.

"And no sleeping!" Shikamaru groaned.

* * *

"I guess Kiba's not here, then," Jeremy said, closing the door behind him. He tossed his bag onto his bed. He was soon sitting on his chair, facing his computer. He pulled up the Skid information and began typing. A window popped up with a picture of a tower, differently colored than the ones surrounding it. Jeremy grabbed his phone, calling his friends one by one. Soon, he had called every Lyoko Warrior for which he knew the cell phone number but Ulrich. Jeremy dialed his number. Jeremy heard the ringing in the phone.

"Yaah!" A blue bolt of electricity jumped out of the phone, disconnecting the call and KO'ing Jeremy.

"Huh?" On the other end, it appeared that Jeremy had just hung up. "Weird," Ulrich said on his bed, leaning back against the wall. Odd still hadn't come back from his date. Ulrich smirked. Probably not going too well.

* * *

"All right, Shikamaru, you can go." Shikamaru blankly said, "Thanks," before walking out the door.

"Hey, Shikamaru! Caught you just in time!"

"Hey, Odd, what's going on?"

"X.A.N.A. attack. Jeremy didn't show up, so I checked on him, and he's out cold!"

"So you need me, then?"

"Yeah, come on!" Odd led the way the the factory.

"Good, you're here," Yumi commented. "We'll head to the scanners."

"Right. I'll get you to the mountain sector." Shikamaru got in the control chair and put on the earpiece. "Okay, then. Transfer Aelita! Transfer Odd! Transfer Yumi! Scanner Aelita! Scanner Odd! Scanner Yumi! Virtualization."

"Well, we're all here in one piece."

"AAAAAH! Not me!!"

"Huh?! What'd I do?!"

"Gotcha! I'm fine."

"Odd!" Odd gave a lame chuckle.

"Anyway, the tower is due east of you guys. Right now, you have a clear path, but I don't think it'll stay that way. And now, transfer, Hinata! Scanner, Hinata! Virtualization!"

"Got it." The four headed for the tower. A minute later, two red triangles appeared on the computer screen.

"Watch out, you have some krabs coming up behind you!"

"Got it! Yah!" A fan went flying towards one of the monsters. It flew aways up and sliced the krab right across its Eye of X.A.N.A. The other shot a few lasers at the group.

"Whoa!" Odd jumped all around dodging them.

* * *

Ulrich heard the door open while he was reading a magazine. "Finally back from your date, Odd? How'd it go?" There was no response. "Hu-Ow!" Ulrich was knocked off of his bed by an electrical blast.


	7. Novel Concept

**A/N: **Ha, I actually take a prod at my plots here XD Well, enjoy! Review if you like!

Hinata ran up behind the krab and jumped on top of it. It tried to shake her off, but she held tight. Holding her hand up to the Eye of X.A.N.A., she said, "Gentle Fist!" A bright blue burst exploded the monster.

"And it looks like that William guy showed up at the tower, too, with a couple of tarantulas." The group ran on to the tower. Sure enough, William was there.

* * *

"Ugh!" Ulrich slammed against the wall of his dorm. He looked up, wincing a bit, to see a red-headed woman whom he did not recognize. "X.A.N.A.!"

* * *

"Aelita! Hurry up and get to the tower!"

"Right!" Aelita started running towards the tower. William darted to the side to catch her. He held up his wrist as smoke lifted Aelita up into the air.

"Aah!" Aelita squirmed around, trying to break free. William brought her to him. "And one more thing," he said. He held his other arm up, and his gigantic sword appeared.

"Back off!" Odd got on all fours and rushed toward William. A tarantula fired a laser at him from the side. He yelled as his virtual form unraveled. Odd leaned on the side of the scanner before riding the elevator up to the control room.

* * *

"Back off!" Ulrich rushed towards the possessed person. He aimed a kick at her, but she flickered, and Ulrich passed right through. "Oof!"

* * *

"Aah!" William sliced Aelita's bracelet off.

"Oh, no!" The smoke-surrounded Aelita floated toward the edge of the mountain sector. "Noo!" she yelled as the fog vanished, sending her free-falling to the digital sea.

"Aelita!" Odd yelled, watching from behind Shikamaru.

* * *

"Ugh." Ulrich got back up, the possessed person staring him down. Her hand swept toward him, and he dodged. Ulrich rushed at her, but she grabbed his wrist and twisted it, throwing him back against the door.

* * *

"But if we devirtualize her, we can't deactivate the tower!"

"Hold on, let me try something." Shikamaru leaned forward, typing, and a window popped up. He pressed enter, and a download bar filled before the window closed.

"Huh? What'd you do?"

"Aaah!" Aelita had almost reached the digital sea. She squeezed her eyes shut. William smirked. A bright light appeared, and William yelled, "Victory!"

"No! Aelita!" Yumi peered over the edge.

Shikamaru leaned back and smiled. "Relax, guys, she's all right."

"Huh? But I just saw that light coming from the digital sea!"

"But here's the thing: You know how the sectors are arranged? All in a circle, kind of?"

"Well, yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"The sectors would be connected, but the digital sea separates them. So if I just opened up the digital sea, Aelita would fall through to the next sector!"

"Huh? So you mean-"

"Yup. Aelita's in the forest sector right now. All she has to do is take a tower back here."

* * *

"Good job, Shikamaru, I made it. Can you guide me to the nearest tower?"

"Yeah, let me check. As for you guys, just hold off William until Aelita gets there. 'Kay?"

"Will do."

"And it looks like the closest tower is west of you."

"Got it."

* * *

"Ugh!" Ulrich winced and grasped his wrist. "Ugh, come on, guys, deactivate the tower already!"

* * *

"All right, found it," Aelita said, stepping into the tower. "Whoa!" She jumped down into what almost appeared to be oblivion. She soon landed on another plane. Aelita poked her head out of the tower. "Nope, this is the arctic sector. Let's try again." She made three more jumps before she finally came into the mountain sector.

"The tower we're looking for is south of you."

"Got it." Aelita ran to her right.

* * *

The redhead shot forward and grabbed Ulrich by his collar.

* * *

"Take this!" Yumi shot both of her fans at William. "Aagh!" He fell on the ground. Yumi stood over him and put her foot on his chest. "Oh, good, you're here, Aelita. I've got William. Hinata already took care of the tarantula." Aelita slowed her pace a bit as she entered the tower.

* * *

"Aaagh!" Ulrich yelled as bits of electricity emnated from the girl's hand onto his body.

* * *

Aelita ascended to the next level, slowly flipping as she rose. Her foot made contact with the top floor.

* * *

Ulrich shut his eyes as he continued yelling, the miniature lightning bolts surging all over him.

* * *

Aelita placed her hand on the oh-so-familiar interface. Her name appeared.

* * *

Ulrich turned limp in the girl's hands. The possessed person threw him against the wall.

* * *

Aelita entered "Lyoko" onto the interface. "Tower deactivated."

"Return to the past, now!" Shikamaru pressed enter.

* * *

"So, it looks like you're okay after all, Einstein."

"Yeah, that was a pretty smart attack, being so inconspicuous."

"Yeah, that's not like him at all. He usually just goes all out trying to kill us."

"Yup. Hopefully he won't get any new ideas like this."

"Let's hope so."


	8. General Failure

**A/N:** I fail at Skid accuracy. Deal with it, please. :)

The bell rang, and kids filed out of math class.

"Finally, fifth hour's over," Shikamaru muttered, picking up his books.

"Shikamaru, could you stay behind awhile?"

"Okay, fine. What's up?"

The teacher walked up to him with a paper in her hand. "You're not doing too well in this class, Shikamaru. Keep this up and you'll fail the course!" she said, placing the paper, which turned out to be Shikamaru's grade report, on the desk.

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, surely your parents wouldn't approve of this!"

"Yeah, I suppose they wouldn't."

"Well, then why are you accepting these mediocre grades, at best?"

"I'm not gonna do all this work for nothing but a good grade. It's just not worth it."

"You do know if you fail this course, you have to repeat the grade. That means you won't be able to stay with your friends."

"Aw, great."

"But we do have a big test coming up. Ace it, and you may still have hope."

"Fine, I'll try."

"Okay, good." The bell rang.

"Oh, whoops. I'll write you a late pass." The teacher walked up to her desk.

"Um, excuse me? You're sitting in my seat."

"Sorry." Shikamaru picked up his books and leaned against the wall. The math teacher came up and handed him a piece of paper.

"You're free to go."

" 'Kay."

* * *

"All right, the Skid program is going to be complete soon. I'm only adding two more spots since Shikamaru said he would rather be outside Lyoko. To tell you the truth, I don't blame him."

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad," laughed Aelita. "So, I'll go back to my dorm. Will the program be okay running by itself?"

"Yeah, I'll let it run on the supercomputer this time. Don't want anyone getting into my room and messing with the files."

"All right, let's go back to the building, then."

"Right." Jeremy took one last glance at the program before following Aelita out of the factory.

* * *

"Hey, guys." Jeremy sat down with the group at breakfast.

"Hey."

"Hey, Einstein, you'll never guess what Shikamaru did in the last attack!"

"Don't be so loud, Odd! Do you want everyone in the school to hear you?"

"Sorry."

"Yeah, Aelita told me last night when we were working on the Skid. Come to think of it, the program should almost be finished by now."

"You don't desperately need to get there on time or anything, do you?"

"No, why?"

"Just asking."

"Okay. So you really did open up the digital sea, Shikamaru?"

"Well, yeah. Why, do you not believe your girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend!"

"He's not my boyfriend!"

Aelita and Jeremy yelled simultaneously.

"Okay, okay, sorry!" Everyone in the group but Jeremy, Aelita, and Hinata burst out laughing. Jeremy took a bite of toast.

"So I'll be able to go in this Skid thing now?" Kiba asked, stabbing a piece of beef with his fork.

"No, not right now. But once the program is completed, you'll be able to."

"All right!"

The group ate their food in partial silence for a while.

"So how'd things go with your girlfriend, Odd?"

"Eh. She's all right, but I'm really not into that sensitive stuff, anyway."

"Hey, guys, I've been thinking..." The group's eyes centered on Kiba. "I think I would be a lot better on Lyoko if we brought Akamaru."

"What?! If he's getting his dog virtualized, Kiwi's coming, too!" Jeremy groaned.

"Heh, there's no way your little pipsqueak could even compare to Akamaru!"

"What'd you just say?!"

"Guys, guys, break it up!"

"But he-"

"Don't wanna hear it." Shikamaru gave them a cold stare until they both sat back down.

"All right, I still have a little time before English. I'm gonna go ahead and check on the program."

"Go ahead." Shikamaru sighed. "I have to study for a math test."

"What? Study? All right, who the heck are you and what have you done to Shikamaru?!" Kiba yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at Shikamaru.

"Aah! Kiba! Relax! It's me!"

"Oh, fine." Kiba sat back down.

"O-kay... Anyway, I'll see you guys later."

Jeremy put up his tray and headed to the factory. "Looks like everything's running smoothly!" Jeremy spun around and exited, unknowingly pressing a key.

* * *

"All right, finally," Jeremy said as the lunch bell rang. "The program should be finished by now," he told Aelita as they walked through the halls.

"I'll try to finish lunch early, then."

"Me, too. What are we having today?"

"I think we're having fried chicken." The two filed into the line, soon seeing the food behind sneeze guards.

"Yup." The whole group of Lyoko warriors were soon seated and eating. Jeremy and Aelita were almost eating as fast as Odd.

"What's the hurry?"

"We're trying to finish early so we can check on the Skid program."

"Okay, go ahead." Ulrich stabbed a green bean with his fork. Aelita and Jeremy were finished in a couple of minutes.

"All right, let's go." Aelita dumped her tray, took a quick look around for teachers, and walked out with Jeremy.

* * *

The two ran to the factory. "Hup!" Jeremy grabbed a rope and slid down as did Aelita. Jeremy sat in the big chair, rotating it around the holosphere to the computer screen.

"What the?!"

"Huh, what's wrong?" Aelita asked, rushing over to look.

"I-I don't get it! Everything was fine before but-!"

"Let me see." Aelita leaned in to look at the screen. "What?!" She looked over the screen again. "How could this happen? There wasn't a X.A.N.A. attack, was there?"

"No." Jeremy put his head on his hands. "This just doesn't make any sense. It was going perfectly, the added chambers, seperations, controls, everything, and now, this!"

"You're telling me! How could this have possibly deleted the Skid?!"


	9. Breaking the Law

Jeremy sighed as they started walking out of the building. "I guess we'll just have to redo the whole thing now. This is hectic, and I'm sure X.A.N.A. is going to make a replika while the Skid's down. This is just a disaster!"

"Don't worry, Jeremy, we can do it. We only have to take two days, and the chances of X.A.N.A. launching an attack at just the right time?"

"Yeah, I guess so. But don't forget Murphy's Law. What can go wrong, will."

* * *

"All right, I finally have the original coding done. I just need to get this to Aelita..."

"So, you're serious, you tried to make new places for me and Hinata and ended up destroying the thing?"

"Yes, I'm serious, now please, I need to send this to the supercomputer."

"Aelita over there?"

"Yup." Jeremy pulled up a window.

"Man, all you're ever doing is typing on that thing. Ever had homework?"

"Yes, I have, now will you please let me concentrate?"

"Fine. I'm gonna go take Akamaru out."

"Go ahead, don't get caught."

"See ya." Kiba walked out of the dorm with Akamaru inside his hoodie. He got to the woods, took a look around, and let his dog out. "Nice to be outside, isn't it, buddy," he whispered, patting Akamaru, who gave an agreeing yip, on the head.

"Let's go in deeper." Kiba jumped up onto a tree branch, Akamaru following suit. They bounced along the trees for a while, getting farther and farther away from Kadic. "This is good." Kiba stopped and turned to Akamaru. "Now what do you say to some dynamic aerial marking?"

* * *

"Okay, let me go ahead and call my friends, then."

"All right, Yumi, tell them we're leaving first thing tomorrow."

"Right." Yumi held her cell phone up to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Ulrich, I'm going to be out this weekend."

"What? Where?"

"New museum aways from here. But, anyway, do you think you guys can manage?"

"Don't worry, we'll be fine. I'll tell everyone."

"All right. I'll see you Monday, then."

"Bye. Have fun."

"Will do."

"Finished, Yumi? Good, get your things packed!"

* * *

"All right, everything's almost finished."

Kiba rolled over and opened an eye. "You're kidding me, you've been up all night?"

"Yeah, of course, this is really important! And if I don't do it just right, then-"

"No, none of that techno mumbo-jumbo for me."

"Well, I'll be here for the rest of today, at least until ten."

Kiba eyed the clock. It read 4:00 AM. "What, no breakfast or anything?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Now, if you don't mind..."

"Whatever." Kiba got up and stretched. Akamaru peeked out from under the bed, which had come in yesterday.

"Hey, buddy, let's go outside for a while." Akamaru arfed and sprang out.

* * *

Jeremy and Aelita kept on working on the Skid. Soon, they were finished with the first part.

"Good. The program'll be finished at exactly eleven-o-clock."

"I'll be here."

"Okay." Jeremy closed the call box on his screen, hanging up. He crossed his arms on his desk, setting his chin on top. He soon nodded off.

* * *

"Jeremy! Jeremy, are you there?"

"Huh?" Jeremy jerked his head off of his arms. "Oh, no! I fell asleep! What time is it?!"

"Don't worry, it's only ten-thirty."

"Oh, okay, good." Jeremy sat up, adjusting his glasses. "Everything okay?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"Oh, and did I tell you Yumi won't be here this weekend?"

"No, why not?"

"Some museum or something. She didn't explain much when she told Ulrich."

"Oh, okay. Well, we can probably manage with Hinata and Kiba and Shikamaru now."

"Yeah, good point."

* * *

Soon eleven-o-clock had arrived.

"All right, ready, Jeremy?"

"Yup." The two pulled up various windows, checking on everything and typing on most of them.

"That's almost all of it..."

"Done!"

"Good job, Aelita. The Skid is back!"

"Mmm-hmm, and with two new pods for our new warriors."

"Yup. Everything worked out. To tell you the truth, I'm a little suspicious."

"Oh, really? Of what?"

"The Skid was completely down, but X.A.N.A. didn't make a replika, launch an attack, anything."

"I guess it is a little weird. But X.A.N.A. is pretty unpredictable."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Looks like Murphy's Law failed after all, huh, Jeremy?"


	10. Crazy Talk

"Noo! Uh!" Hinata shot up in her bed.

"Something wrong, Hinata?" Aelita said drowsily.

"Oh, no, I'm fine," Hinata replied quickly. "I... guess it was just a dream."

"Oh, okay. Well, good night, then."

"Right."

* * *

Kiba bolted upright in his bed, looking around. "Just a nightmare, I guess," he said, wiping some sweat off of his forehead before laying back down.

* * *

"Mmm?!" Shikamaru's eyes quickly opened as he took a glance around. "What a nightmare," he mumbled, soon settling back into his bed.

* * *

"Hey, guys." Shikamaru set his tray down next to Odd.

"Hey, Shikamaru. I had the worst nightmare last night. Barely feels like I slept at all." The other two ninja stared at him.

"What?"

"I had a nightmare, too."

"And so did I..."

"That's weird. Did yours have some shadowy guy and the village up in flames?"

"Uh! Wow, ours must have been exactly alike..."

"That's just creepy. And on the same night, too. I wonder if it has anything to do with why we're here."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Jeremy interjected confusedly. "Didn't your parents enroll you or something?"

"No," Shikamaru replied. "My parents don't know I'm here. It was weird, I can barely remember a thing. I was back home, looking over some books Dad was making me read, and I dozed off. Something woke me up, I turned around, and next thing I know, I was at the edge of the forest and this Delmas guy was saying he'd been looking for me and pulled me into this place."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"Huh. I wonder what happened?"

"As for me, well, I just woke up in the forest... And the same thing with the principal..." Hinata twiddled her fingers.

"Well, what happened to me_,_" Kiba started, "was Shino and I were out looking for Hinata--she'd been gone for two days by then--and then this creepy gray-haired guy popped up out of nowhere. Shino asked what he wanted, and the guy attacked him. So we were fighting, and he stuck his hand out and grabbed me. And let me tell you, that's not easy. But anyway, he grabbed me, I felt Akamaru jump up on my arm, and I blacked out. Came back in the forest, wandered closer to the campus, and, well, here I am."

"Whoa, weird," Odd commented, mouth full of the last of his breakfast.

"Yeah. I just thought you guys were normal students, but then there was that thing Hinata used, and the Shadow Possession Shikamaru used, and now this." Ulrich looked at Odd. "Or so I hear..." Odd nodded.

"But how could you possibly do those things, though? It seems like a logical impossibility," Jeremy started.

"They're just plain old jutsu."

"Huh? Jutsu? What are you talking about?" Ulrich asked, pausing before he but some hash in his mouth.

"What, are you serious?" Kiba responded.

"Yeah, I've never heard of anything called jutsu."

"Come to think of it, they never said anything about the chakra system at all in science," Kiba pondered.

"What are you talking about?" Aelita asked, wondering if this was all some bad joke.

"This place is weird. What, does anyone have jutsu around here?" Shikamaru asked rhetorically, leaning against the table.

"No, I really don't know what a 'jutsu' is," Jeremy replied honestly.

"Well, it's kind of like a spell. You concentrate your chakra through hand signs, different ones for different jutsu, and then, well, you get the jutsu..."

"Okay, but," Ulrich paused to take a sip of milk, "what's chakra, then?"

"It's the elemental life energy that we all have."

"So you guys can do energy manipulation?" Jeremy asked slowly, trying to analyze the new information.

"I guess?"

"Still sounds a little far-fetched to me, but..."

"Well, I'm officially bored." Kiba walked out of the lunchroom as Odd walked up.

* * *

"Hey, Kiba! What's up?" Odd called, running up to his new friend.

"Not much. I'm just kind of standing here, nothing to do."

"Wanna go hang out in the factory?"

"Sure, why not? Not like I have anything else to do. Let me get Akamaru real quick."

"Need to let him out to go?"

"No, he can do that himself. I just like being with him, that's all."

"Oh, okay. I'll meet you at the factory, then!"

"Kay, see ya!"

* * *

Kiba got his beloved companion before joining Odd just inside the factory. "So that's Akamaru, huh?" Odd said, petting the small white dog.

"Yup. So..." Kiba turned to look outside the building, "is this place really a factory or is that just a nickname for it?"

"It's a real factory, or, uh, it was at some point."

"Can we check it out?"

"No, one time Jeremy and I-Hey! Wait!" Kiba had already headed to the stairs.


	11. Scrap Metal

Jeremy put up his papers. "Last of the history report," he muttered, filing the pile into a folder. He turned to his computer, logging on and pulling up a program. Another window popped up with a tower standing out amongst a 3-D grid of others.

"Oh, no." The boy instantly pulled out his cell phone, dialing Aelita and Ulrich. He started to dial Yumi's number. "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot." He hung up before he finished punching in the digits.

"And Odd." Jeremy called him, hearing the phone ring a while. "Weird, he's not picking up," Jeremy said, pushing the disconnect button. "And I wonder where Kiba went? Oh, well, I'd better get to the factory." Jeremy closed out of the two windows onscreen before turning around and walking out of the dorm.

* * *

"Whoa! This thing is awesome!"

"Kiba, wait!" Odd climbed down the last flight before entering the room.

"Man, this is cool!" Kiba looked around the conveyor belts and mechanical hands scattered all around the place.

"Kiba! Come on, we need to get out of here!"

"What? Why?"

"A while ago, X.A.N.A. possessed all of these robots here, and, uh, let's just say it didn't turn out very good."

" 'Kay, if you say so." Kiba turned around and started to walk back up the stairs.

* * *

Jeremy lifted the lid of the manhole, climbing into the sewers. He boarded his scooter, zooming through the underground facility and soon climbing out. He saw Aelita on the top of the bridge.

"Oh, hey, Jeremy, has Ulrich or Odd come yet?"

"No, not that I know of. How about Hinata or Kiba?"

"Hinata's just ahead of us. I don't know about Kiba."

"Yeah, we'll probably need to get Hinata, Kiba, and Shikamaru cell phones sometime soon."

"Probably." Aelita grabbed a rope and slid down it, Jeremy following suit. Hinata was waiting right outside the elevator. Aelita and she stepped in, Jeremy entering the control room.

"Transfer, Aelita! Transfer, Hinata! Scanner, Aelita! Scanner, Hinata! Oh, there you are, Ulrich. Get to the scanner room."

* * *

"Huh?"

"What?"

"I just heard something."

"I don't know, I didn't hear anything."

"Quiet." Kiba and Odd stood in silence for a while on the first and second stair steps.

"No, I don't hear anything."

"Weird. I could've sworn I heard something move."

"Uh, well, we should probably get out of here..."

"Yeah, good idea." Kiba turned back around and climbed up the stairs. A couple of steps later, he stopped again. Odd bumped into him.

"Hey!"

"I heard it again!" Akamaru yipped.

"Yeah, it was right behind us, just aways down!"

* * *

"All right, guys, the tower is west of you guys. I'll go ahead and send your vehicles. Oh! Um, for now, Hinata, you can ride the Overwing with Aelita." Jeremy punched in some keys, and the Overwing and Overbike appeared. Aelita and Ulrich instantly got on.

"This is the Overwing, Hinata. Come on," Aelita said, pulling Hinata onto the Lyoko vehicle. "Let's go."

* * *

Akamaru started growling.

"Yeah, I know." Kiba turned to Odd. "I'm gonna check this out." The ninja walked down the stairs and looked around in the fairly dim lighting. He heard a whirring, and his head whipped to the side.

* * *

"Whoa!" Ulrich narrowly avoided a laser blast from a hornet, swerving at the last instant.

"Energy Field!" The monster exploded.

* * *

"Whoa!" Kiba darted out of the way of a mechanical arm.

"Oh, man, not again!"

"Odd, get out of here! Akamaru and I can handle this!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah!" Akamaru got back on the ground as Kiba got something out of a pocket.

* * *

"All right, good, you guys are almost there!"

"Yeah, I can see it."

"Looks like we have company, though!"

* * *

Odd darted up to the top of the stairs, but decided to linger to see what Kiba was going to do. The blonde boy turned around for a second to make sure Jeremy was all right, then turned back around.

* * *

"All right, let's go!" Ulrich jumped up off of the Overbike, which went careening into a tarantula's leg. The monster toppled over as Ulrich yelled, "Impact!" and thrust his sword into the Eye of X.A.N.A.

* * *

The mechanisms were going berserk now, all around Kiba and Akamaru.

"All right, here we go!" Odd saw Kiba put something in his mouth, and he fed something to his pet as well.

"What the?" Akamaru started to turn brownish red.

"Ready, Akamaru?"

"Arf!" The dog jumped onto Kiba, who made a hand sign.

"Man-Beast Clones!"

"Wha?!"

A tuft of smoke dissipated, revealing two distinctly more dog-like Kibas. At this point, almost every mechanism in the floor of the factory was all over the place.

"Fang Over Fang!"

* * *

"All right, go ahead, Aelita." Aelita walked into the red-enveloped tower, entering and tilting her head back to ascend to the next level.

* * *

The two spun rapidly over each other, traveling around the room and destroying all of the attacking technology.

* * *

Aelita placed her hand on the blue interface, and her name appeared. She entered the code and said, "Tower deactivated."

"All right, return to the past now!"

* * *

Kiba walked out of the lunchroom and looked around for Odd. "Hey."

"That was awesome!"

"What?"

"That fang over fang thing!"

"Hey, I thought I told you to get out of there!"

"Well, yeah, I guess, but-"

"Okay, whatever." Kiba looked up at the sky. "I'm gonna go ahead and get back to Akamaru."

"All right, see you later!"


	12. Welcome, Again

**A/N**: Hehe, being a rabid fangirl and all, it was hard for me to keep him out of the story this long... But I broke down and threw him in. :3 And once again, discrepancy in room numbers, I know it's wrong, blah blah blah.

"Shikamaru, can you stay for a minute?"

"I guess." The math teacher walked up to him with a paper in her hand.

"What's that?"

"It's the test you took Friday."

"Okay. And?"

The teacher held up the paper. "You got a 110."

"Yeah, so?"

"110. As in 110%. As in you answered every question correctly, even the extra credit question."

"Yeah..."

"So you've really known all of this all along, then?"

"Yeah."

"Then why are you just sitting there and flunking the course?"

"I already told you, just a letter on a piece of paper isn't worth all the work."

The teacher sighed. "Okay, go ahead and go to your next class."

"Thanks." Shikamaru walked out.

* * *

The final bell rang, and Shikamaru and Kiba soon met up.

"Hey, Shikamaru. Feel like going through the woods today?"

"Sure, why not?" The two made their way toward the forest. They strolled through for a while before Kiba started to jump through the trees. Shikamaru kept walking. "So. How's school going for you?"

"I'm doing okay. But the science teacher keeps getting onto me for listing the chakra system as one of the body systems. How about you?"

Shikamaru, still walking, looked up at Kiba. "I'm fine." His foot nudged against something, and he almost tripped. "Hey, what- What the?!"

"Huh? What's wrong?" Kiba jumped back toward the other ninja to see that Shikamaru's foot had been touching a person.

"Hey! I've seen him before! It's..."

"Rock Lee."

"He looks pretty out of it."

"Yeah, we should probably get him somewhere a little safer."

"Wanna try the factory for now?"

"Yeah, let's keep him in there until he wakes up."

"Kay." Kiba hopped down at Lee's feet.

"All right, on three." The two put their hands under him.

"One, two, three!" Shikamaru hoisted up his end, but Kiba was struggling to get Lee's feet up.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that."

Kiba stopped. "What?"

"The leg weights."

"Huh?"

"Oh, yeah, you were out during Lee's match in the exams, weren't you?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well, he has these leg weights that he took off then. They're pretty heavy, to say the least."

"I guess we'll just leave him here, then. Hang around 'til he wakes up."

"Sounds good to me."

" 'Kay."

* * *

"Mm?" One of Lee's eyes opened. "Huh? Where am I?" Lee sat up and looked around.

"Hey, he's up."

"Huh? Shikamaru? Kiba? What is going on?"

"Man, I wish I could tell you. Kiba and I were just walking through the woods and I, uh, ran into you."

"So is the Leaf Village close, then?" Shikamaru sighed. "No. This place is nowhere near the Leaf Village, at least as far as I know."

"What?!"

"Yeah, welcome to Kadic."

Lee sat up. "Hey, where is my crutch?"

"Crutch? I didn't see a crutch anywhere."

"Well, I could probably cope without it; I just had the surgery and everything, but..."

* * *

"Yeah, it's in the forest sector. Right, I'll meet you there." Jeremy hung up and exited his dorm.

He and Odd met at the edge of the woods. They continued together for a while before Odd caught sight of Kiba. "Hey, Kiba! We got an attack!" Kiba turned around.

"Aah! Odd!" Jeremy yelled and whispered at the same time, seeing a green-clad boy with them leaning against a tree.

"What? What is going on?"

"Oh, um, nothing. I just... gotta go with them."

"Okay, then..." The three left, leaves crunching under their feet.

"So, what happened to you? You looked pretty beat up when we found you."

"Well, I..." He blinked. "That is weird, I cannot remember a thing!"

"It must be some sort of jutsu that got us all here, then. Kiba and I couldn't remember anything when we first got here as well, and I'm sure Hinata didn't either."

"So Hinata is here, too?"

"Uh-huh." As if cued, Aelita and Hinata came running through the forest past the two shinobi. Hinata saw Lee and stopped for a second.

"Hinata, hurry up!"

"I wonder where they are going?"

"Who knows?"

"So, where is this Kadic place, anyway?"

"Well, I don't know the name of the woods; Kadic is actually a school not too far from here. For some reason, me, Kiba, and Hinata are enrolled in it. Probably by the same guy that sent us here."

"I wonder if I am enrolled, then?"

"Maybe. Want to go check?"

"Sure." Lee carefully put weight back on his left side before following Shikamaru to the campus.

* * *

"Good afternoon, Shikamaru, how can I help you?"

"Is there any chance anyone's been enrolled recently? I mean, besides Kiba and me."

"Let me check." The principal turned to his computer. He clicked a few things. "No, I don't see anyone."

"Oh, okay, just checking. Thanks." Shikamaru and Lee walked out of the office. "So, I wonder where you'll stay. I mean, it's not like we know a way to get you back to the village, or even into Kadic for that matter."

"Hm... I guess I could just live in the forest, but..."

"Yeah, good point. I could probably try to pull some strings and get you in Kadic, maybe."

"All right, if you think you can." Shikamaru glanced toward the factory. "Wonder what's taking them so long, there should've been an RTTP by now," he muttered.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing." As if it were summoned, a bright white orb suddenly swept through the forest.

* * *

Shikamaru was back in his dorm now. "So I guess they took care of things." He looked at the clock by his bed. It read 3:50. "Might as well not waste any time." He kicked off his shoes and got in the bed.

* * *

The final bell rang.

"Hey, Kiba."

"Hey, Shikamaru. Should we go check the forest and see if Lee's there?"

"Yeah, he did show up today before the RTTP."

"You mean return to the past?"

"Yeah. Come on, let's go."

* * *

The two entered the forest.

"I think he was over this way..."

"I'm not sure. Let's check." Both ninja walked through the woods for a while, looking around carefully. "Man, all of the trees look exactly the same in this place. It's disorientating."

"Yeah, I know."

"Hey, over there!"

"Huh?" Kiba turned to his right. "Yup. That's him. Just hang around for a while, then?"

"Yeah." A minute or so later, Lee was awake. Shikamaru and Kiba filled him in on where he was.

"Yeah, Shikamaru and I are enrolled already, maybe by the same guy that sent us here."

"This is weird; I cannot remember a thing about what happened!"

"Yeah, I figure it's probably a side effect of the jutsu that sent us here. At first, Kiba and I couldn't remember anything, either. Hinata, too."

"Oh, all right... So, do you think I am enrolled in Kadic, then? If you two and Hinata are, and it was the same man that sent us here, I probably am." Kiba got up. "Yeah, let's go check it out."

Lee looked around. "And you are sure you did not find my crutch anywhere?"

"No, I'm sure. You can cope without it, right?"

"I should be able to."

"All right, then, let's go." The three made their way to the principal's office.

* * *

"Good afternoon, kids, how may I help you?"

"Has anyone been enrolled recently?"

"Let me check." Delmas checked on his computer, clicking a few things. "Why, yes, one was just enrolled an hour ago."

Lee stepped forward. "Really? Who?"

"It says 'Rock Lee'."

"All right, thanks, that's all we needed to know. And by the way, this is him right next to me."

"Oh, hello, then, Lee, let me find your room." The headmaster made a few more clicks.

"Looks like you'll be in the same room as Shikamaru here. He can guide you there, right, Shikamaru?"

"Yeah. I'll see you, then."

"Have a good day, you three."


	13. Strong Attack, Weak Possession

Shikamaru led the way out of the building. "All right, I'll show you the way. It's over in building 6, come on."

"I'll see you guys later, then."

"See ya, Kiba."

"Goodbye."

* * *

Lee and Shikamaru were soon in their room.

"So this is my bed, then?"

"Yeah, the one on the left."

"Okay." Lee sat down on the coverless bed.

Shikamaru looked at the clock. "Looks like supper is gonna be soon. Wanna head down there?"

"Sure."

* * *

"Hey, Shikamaru! Who's that?"

"This is Lee. He showed up the same way we did. Or so we think."

"Oh, okay."

"Hey, what's with the headbands?"

"Oh, these? Well, it's kind of a long story, but it pretty much just shows that we're ninja."

"Ninja? Wait, I thought ninja were, like, Asian kung-fu guys in black... What do you call those?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but no, that's not what a ninja is."

"Okay, if you say so."

"Well, anyway, it's nice to meet you, Lee. I'm Aelita, this is Jeremy, over there's Ulrich-"

"And I'm Odd!"

"And then you already know me, Kiba, and Hinata." Lee nodded and sat down. "And there's also Yumi, but she doesn't board here, she lives in her house."

"Okay."

"Nice to meet you."

"You, too."

* * *

"All right, everyone, welcome to gym."

"Oh, hey, Lee, nice to know we at least have one class with you."

"Mm-hmm."

"We're going to do sprints today, five people at a time, as usual. Oh, and we have a new student, his name is Lee. Okay, first set..." The gang including Lee sat down on the bleachers and watched the first run.

"And second, Odd, Jeremy, Lee, Shikamaru, and Leah. And Shikamaru, RUN this time, got it?"

"Right, right, okay." The five took their places, and Jim yelled, "Go!". All five took off. All five stopped.

"What the?!"

"How did-"

"Buah?! He just- De-"

"Man, it's still hard to believe."

"What?" Everyone was staring at Lee, who had completed his lap. In about two seconds.

* * *

Lee opened the room to his dorm, closing it behind him. He set his school stuff down on the bed and got out a math assignment. Grabbing a pencil, he sat down and started to work. A thin wisp of black smoke, or so it appeared, strung out of the electrical socket by him. It jumped forward at the boy.

* * *

The door of the room opened, and Shikamaru turned around to put his things on his bed.

"Gyaaah!" The chunin crumpled down, unconscious.

* * *

"Get to the factory. There's an activated tower in the arctic sector."

"Got it, Jeremy. I'll be there in a sec. Odd's here, too, I'll tell him."

"Okay, good. See you there." Jeremy hung up and dialed Aelita. "...And bring Hinata, too, okay?"

"Right." Hearing Aelita disconnect, Jeremy hung up, exited his dorm, and headed for the factory.

* * *

"Transfer, Hinata! Transfer, Odd! Transfer, Aelita! Scanner, Hinata! Scanner, Odd! Scanner, Aelita! Virtualization!" The three landed in the icy-appearing section of Lyoko. "And where did you say Ulrich went?"

"He said he was going to try and get Yumi. Apparently she said her parents were going to be gone."

"Okay, if you say so. The tower is due west; I'll send your vehicles." Jeremy typed a bit and pressed enter.

Aelita and Hinata boarded the Overwing as Odd hopped onto his ride.

* * *

Ulrich sped down the street. Yumi wasn't home. Of course. Ulrich turned a corner, advancing toward the woods. He climbed down into the sewer.

* * *

A laser blast sliced through the air just centimeters away from Aelita. She whipped around. "Kankerlots!" she said, flipping back around and hurriedly turning the controls of the Overwing to avoid a glacier.

* * *

The possessed shinobi stopped a millisecond before he would pass the manhole in the forest. He carelessly flung it up, and it went flying into a tree, knocking the plant over.

* * *

"Uh!" Hinata struck one of the monsters with a kunai. Another next to it shot a laser which Odd narrowly avoided.

* * *

Ulrich arrived atop the familiar white building and prepared to grab a rope.

* * *

"Laser Arrow!" Odd yelled, taking down the last of the kankerlots.

"All right, guys, the tower is coming up close, but so are a couple of krabs."

* * *

The brown-haired boy slid down to the ground floor. He yelled as a powerful punch landed in his back.

* * *

"Aah! Hinata!" Aelita exclaimed as the purple-haired girl's virtual form unraveled. She appeared in the scanners, pausing for a moment to regain her breath before using the elevator to get to the computer room.

* * *

"Oof! What?" Ulrich looked up to see Lee with the Eye of X.A.N.A. in place of his pupils.

* * *

"Energy Field!" Aelita yelled as the last krab exploded.

"All right, no monsters in sight. Hurry to the tower--I don't think Ulrich and Yumi should be taking this long!"

* * *

Ulrich shouted as the possessed boy drove an almost bone-shattering punch into his ribs, smashing him into the wall. The Lyoko warrior barely got up.

* * *

Aelita hopped off of the Overwing, running to the tower. She slowed down as she entered.

* * *

"No!" Ulrich yelled, knowing it wouldn't do any good. He closed his eyes tightly, crossing his arms over his face.

* * *

Aelita tipped her head back and slowly flipped as she rose to the next plane.

* * *

Ulrich heard the static whirring that X.A.N.A. always gave. Lee suddenly partially collapsed, gripping his head.

"No..."

"Uh?!"

* * *

Aelita placed her hand on the blue-tinted interface. Her name appeared shortly afterward.

* * *

Ulrich sat, stunned, watching Lee's eyes continuously flicker between the Eye of X.A.N.A. and his own. The shinobi growled a bit, lowering his head.

* * *

The word "Code" appeared on the screen.

* * *

Lee yelled as a black fog receded from him. He collapsed.

* * *

Aelita typed out "Lyoko".

"Tower deactivated," she said as Jeremy typed.

"Return to the past now!"

* * *

"So, looks like you survived."

"Yup." Ulrich leaned against the wall in his dorm. "I wonder if that really happened?"

"What?" asked Jeremy.

"Well, X.A.N.A.'s attack was possessing Lee..."

"Yeah, and?"

"He...He drove X.A.N.A. out."

"What? No way!"

"Yeah, I saw it with my own two eyes."

"He hasn't been in the scanners, right?"

"Right."

"Man, that's weird!"

"He sure packs a punch, though," Ulrich muttered, patting a hand on his ribs.


	14. Unexpected

**A/N: **Yeah, I'm pretty sure I have some bad inaccuracies in here, but hey, if you like the series, you can look over them, right? Review if you like.

"Hey, Shikamaru!"

"Hey, guys." Shikamaru sat down with his tray of meatloaf, as did Lee. "Lee, this is Aelita, Jeremy, Odd, and Ulrich. And then you know Kiba and Hinata."

"Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

* * *

"All right, everyone, welcome to gym."

"Hey, Lee."

"Hey."

"We're going to do sprints today, five people at a time, as usual. Oh, and we have a new student, his name is Lee. Okay, first set..." Lee and the Lyoko gang sat on the bleachers and watched the first run.

"And second, Odd, Jeremy, Lee, Shikamaru, and Leah. And Shikamaru, RUN this time, got it?"

"Right, right, okay." The five took their places.

"Go!"

"I just don't get that."

"Geez."

"Buah?! He just- De-"

"What?" Lee confusedly looked around at the gaping faces around him. Jim dropped his stopwatch.

"What?" The audience was in silence as well.

"He's... fast."

"Ya think?"

* * *

Lee kicked off his shoes and got in bed. It was 9:00. The lights had already been turned out by Lee's roomate a few minutes earlier. Soon both ninja were asleep.

Wah! Wah! Wah! Lee rolled over to turn his alarm off. Shikamaru rolled over to the center as well. He glared at his alarm clock.

"You set. Your alarm. To go off. At 4:30 in the morning?!"

"Yes. Why?"

"It's 4:30 in the morning!"

"Am I not supposed to get up yet?"

"No, you're fine, but don't set your alarm! It's 4:30 in the morning!"

"Oh, okay, sorry." Lee put his shoes and headband on before slipping out of the room. Shikamaru rolled back over and grumbled something inaudibly.

* * *

"Okay, everyone, two minutes to the bell; you can put up your things now," said the history teacher. Papers were heard shuffling loudly, but the noises soon quieted. A couple of seconds later, the bell rang. The students filed out of class, though not quite orderly.

"Not the weekend just yet, but I can wait."

"Yeah, totally." Many other conversations and goodbyes were heard as students exited.

"Hey, Shikamaru!"

"Hey, Kiba."

"Wanna go mess around on Lyoko?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, just get me there and mess around."

"I'm not sure..."

"Oh, come on! What could possibly go wrong?"

* * *

Shikamaru and Kiba slid down the ropes and boarded the elevator. Shikamaru punched in four digits and hit the red button as the elevator's doors closed. The chunin got out in the control room while his companion rode down to the scanner room.

"Transfer, Kiba. Scanner, Kiba. Virtualization." Kiba appeared in the desert sector and looked around.

"So, what now?" Shikamaru asked, leaning back in the chair.

"You just make sure nobody comes after me, 'kay?"

"Sure."

"All right." Kiba started walking around.

* * *

"Shikamaru? Shikamaru!"

"Aah! Wha?"

"You didn't fall asleep, did you?"

"Maybe."

"Ugh, whatever. Just try to stay awake, okay? I don't want to get myself killed in here."

"Then why did you want in there in the first place?" Shikamaru checked the monster scanner. "Someone's coming up on your right, Kiba!"

The genin whipped around.

"Whoa, what is this?" He looked up to see a jellyfish-like creature.

"I don't know, the notes don't say anything about it. Does it have an Eye of X.A.N.A. on it?"

"Yeah."

"Go ahead and go for that, then."

"Right!" Kiba rushed forward with his arm out. He leaped up and swung his arm back. "Whoa!" Almost invisible tentacles leaped out.

"Rrgh!" Kiba was getting tangled up in the translucent mess. Three more tentacles approached him, one at each of his temples and one in the center of his forehead. They started to glow, and Kiba stood stock still. A window popped up on the main screen of the supercomputer.

"What the-" Shikamaru looked it over. "Kiba! Kiba! Can you hear me?!" There was no response.

"Ugh!" Shikamaru whipped around, sprinted, and jumped down into the scanner room after setting a very short virtualization delay. He soon appeared on Lyoko a distance away from his friend and ran forward just enough to get within range.

"Shadow Possession!" The monster froze, the pink-tinted information in its appendages stopping cold. "Kiba! Can you hear me?"

"Yeah," he said slowly. "What happened?"

"I'm not completely sure. From what I saw, it looked like that guy was stealing your memory or something of the sort. Can you move enough to hit him?"

"Yeah, let me try." After squirming for a minute, most of Kiba's body was free. He slashed a restraining tentacle. There was a whirring noise, and the tentacles all fell limp. Kiba dropped down to the ground.

"So what now? If you release your Shadow Possession, that guy is probably going to come after us. I can't devirtualize myself with my own blade; I've already tried."

"Okay, Kiba, we're going to have to do this quickly. First, get over here." Kiba walked over to the chunin.

"All right, I'm going to release my Shadow Possession, then you stab me with those blades of yours. I'll get devirtualized, run up to the computer room, and devirtualize you. But you have to avoid that monster for the entire time. You hear me, Kiba? Run. Don't try to fight him. And don't let yourself get cornered, all right?"

"Got it."

"Ready?" Kiba nodded.

"Release!" The shadow sped back toward the scyphozoa, and Kiba hurriedly slashed the other ninja. Shikamaru soon appeared back on Earth and sprinted up to the control room. He typed quickly, then pressing enter.

"We're set in thirty seconds. You doing all right?"

"Yeah, he's pretty slow, but-Whoa! His tentacles reach really far!"

"Just keep it up, and look ahead, we don't want you getting to a dead end."

"Right. How much longer?"

"Nineteen seconds."

"Okay." Kiba ran for a while longer.

"Aah! Crap!"

"What?!"

"It's a dead end!"

"Kiba!"

"How much longer?"

"Six seconds!"

"Gah, he's coming in closer!" Kiba flattened himself against the large rock behind him. The scyphozoa headed forward. One of its tentacles shot out.

"Three seconds!"

Kiba leaped over the rock, stabbing one of his blades into the far side, narrowly avoiding careening into the digital sea. Bit by bit, his body disappeared from Lyoko. Shikamaru met him in the scanner room.

"You happy? You got to 'mess around on Lyoko', right?"

"Oh, man, there is no way I am going in there alone again!"

"You can bet on that. Come on, let's just go back to our dorms."


	15. Wrapped Up

**A/N:** This is one of my favorite chapters, actually. Enjoy!

Kiba rolled over in his bed. "It's called sleep. You should try it."

"Not now. Too busy."

"Come on, what are you working on, anyway?"

"You wouldn't know what I'm talking about."

"Good point."

* * *

Lee got up slowly, making sure the bed did not creak. He glanced at the clock. Sure enough, it was 4:30. He looked down at the clothing-covered floor. Lee carefully tiptoed over and between the piles, but his foot slipped. "Whoa!" he called out, startled, as he hit the floor.

"Lee!"

"Sorry, Shikamaru."

"Maybe you should just sleep in."

"Why?"

"So you don't wake me up?"

"Tomorrow I will not make a sound, I promise!"

"Okay, fine. One more day. And that's it, okay?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Now let me go to sleep." Shikamaru rolled back over, putting his pillow over his head.

* * *

"Hey, Shikamaru! Jeremy said he wanted us after school."

"Okay, I'll be there." Shikamaru started toward his fifth hour.

"Right. See ya."

"Bye."

* * *

"And there's Shikamaru. All right, now that all of you are here, we have something to take care of." Jeremy shuffled through his bag. He got out three boxes and handed each to the three ninja Lyoko warriors.

"What's this?"

"They're cell phones. They'll help us keep in touch. Especially useful for X.A.N.A. attacks or replikas."

"Right." The three opened their respective boxes. Hinata's phone was purple, Shikamaru's black, and Kiba's red.

"Thank you."

"Yeah, thanks."

"No problem, guys. You want the instruction manuals?"

"Nah, who reads those things, anyway? I can figure it out."

"Eh, sure, why not." Jeremy handed Shikamaru his guide.

"You want yours, Hinata?"

"Oh, uh, no thank you."

"Okay. I'll trash these, then. Oh, and Shikamaru?"

"What?"

"Do you think you'll have any trouble keeping Lyoko a secret from Lee?"

"Probably not."

* * *

Shikamaru yawned and settled into his bed. He was asleep within minutes. Midnight approached as both of the tenants kept snoozing. Ring! Ring! Ring! Shikamaru bolted to his desk and answered his phone. He looked over to see Lee still asleep. "Good," he muttered.

"Shikamaru? We have a X.A.N.A. attack."

"At midnight?! Well, what do you need me for?!" Shikamaru was whispering harshly to the bespectacled boy on the other side of the line.

"Just show up, okay?"

"Fine." Shikamaru pushed the disconnect button, slipped on his regular clothes, and silently walked out of the dorm.

* * *

"All right, I'll try to come, but if my parents catch me, no luck."

"All right, see you at the factory, Yumi."

"Bye." Yumi hung up. She hurriedly put on some everyday clothes and slowly opened the door to her room. She sprinted to the front door, looking around before slipping out into the night.

* * *

Aelita picked up the phone and listened to her friend. She yawned. "Okay, I'll be there," she said, then hanging up.

* * *

"Got it. I'm on my way. I'll tell Odd, too."

"All right, don't wake anyone else up."

"Right." Ulrich disconnected.

"Odd? We've got a X.A.N.A. attack."

"Right, don't rush me." Odd swung his feet over the edge of the bed, tossing his covers aside. They stuck to his hand. "Stupid static," he mumbled, pushing it off once more to no avail. It suddenly shot up his arm.

"Odd, aren't you ready yet?" Ulrich's back was to him as the brunette put on his clothes.

"Mmfrummf!"

"What?" He turned around. Odd's electric blanket was tightly wrapped around his arms, binding them together. His mouth and neck were covered, too.

"Odd, what are-" Ulrich's blanket flew over and knocked him to the ground. His arms tried in vain to rip it off of his mouth. The blanket doubled over on his face, covering it with another layer.

* * *

"Transfer, Hinata! Transfer, Yumi! Transfer, Aelita! Scanner, Hinata! Scanner, Yumi! Scanner, Aelita! Virtualization." The three appeared in the mountain sector.

"The tower is due west of you guys. I'll virtualize your vehicles. I went ahead and made you one a couple of hours ago, Hinata." Jeremy pressed enter. The Overwing and another vehicle appeared.

"This is the Overdisc." Hinata boarded the plate, grabbed its scooter-like handles, and lurched forward, but she soon got the hang of it. The two vehicles zoomed along.

* * *

"Gah!" Ulrich panted, finally ripping away the cloth for a second. It latched back on, though, starting to tighten around his neck. He made a small gagging noise as the remainder of the blanket whipped around his arms. Odd was turning purple ever so slightly from oxygen deficiency.

* * *

"Yah!" Yumi jerked a fan, and it went flying toward the block leading the other two monsters. It exploded, and the monsters behind it rolled forward.

"You haven't seen those before, have you, Hinata? They're called megatanks. You have to wait until they open up before their Eyes of X.A.N.A. appear. But they unleash a huge energy wave when they open, so be careful," Jeremy finished.

The two warbled closer, coming in at an angle. The halves spun around ever so slightly, and the megatanks opened up, revealing a small Eye of X.A.N.A. surrounded by pink webbing in each. Bits of light were seemingly sucked into the respective Eyes, and a tinted wall shot out from each monster, all the way around but underneath. Hinata narrowly avoided the blast, with a backward jerk of the Overdisc.

* * *

Odd's arms were still squirming as he struggled to get out of the tangled mess. He was sweating now, his face turning a bright shade of red. Giving up on his arms, he hopped out of the bed, rolling a bit on the floor.

* * *

The walls returned to the megatanks. Aelita yelled, "Energy Field!" instantly, shooting a pink orb into one of the monsters, which exploded. The remaining megatank closed its shell, rolling closer to the warriors. All three had abandoned their vehicles, now slipping into a ready stance.

* * *

Odd leaned against the door, almost losing his balance beforehand. He carefully wedged his blanket just under the doorknob and jerked up. He took a gasping breath before the cover jumped back. The blonde toppled over, flipping so his back was facing Ulrich.

* * *

The shell opened, almost immediately loosing a blast directly at Aelita. She formed her Energy Field in both hands, a membrane connecting the two. The membrane significantly slowed the wall of energy, but did not stop it. The wall kept pushing, but so did Aelita. The girl's feet slid back.

* * *

Odd struggled, and his hand connected with Ulrich's blanket. Odd rolled over a couple of times, the cloth following. Ulrich tugged the rest of the blanket off. Changing its course, Ulrich's blanket rushed toward Odd now, making the layer over his nose and mouth even thicker.

* * *

The wall finally slid back. Hinata rushed toward the monster, her hand out. "Gentle Fist!" A blue burst decimated the megatank.

"All right, let's go." Aelita jumped back on the Overwing, Hinata also boarding her vehicle.

"Hey, Jeremy, what happened to Kiba? You never virtualized him, and we saw him in the scanner room."

* * *

Ulrich tried to rip the blankets off of his companion. They barely budged. Odd was turning purple now, barely able to breathe at all. A blanket whipped around his torso. Suddenly, the door slammed open.

* * *

"Ulrich and Odd were taking too long. I knew something must have happened."

* * *

Akamaru jumped onto the writhing mass of blankets.

* * *

"I sent him to help."

* * *

"Rrr!" Akamaru growled, ripping the blankets. Kiba took one end and started pulling.

* * *

"There's the tower!" Aelita jumped off of the Overwing and rushed over, slowing as she entered. She lifted her head back, soon ascending to the next plane.

* * *

One blanket was off of Odd, who was turning blue. The cloth pivoted and smothered Akamaru.

* * *

Aelita's foot made contact with the surface, the outermost ring of the level turning a glowing white.

* * *

"Akamaru!" Kiba yelled, desperately trying to tug the blanket off of his beloved companion.

* * *

Aelita approached the interface, placing her hand atop it. Her name flashed, but soon faded.

* * *

Neither of the blankets were budging, and Odd was no longer moving.

* * *

The word "Code" appeared on the interface. Aelita entered "Lyoko". The binary data around her fell.

"Tower deactivated."

"Return to the past, now!"

* * *

Ulrich sprang out of bed to check on Odd. He didn't move or wake when the brown-headed boy shook him.

"Gotcha!" Odd yelled, jumping out.

"Odd!" The two scuffled for a bit before settling back into bed.

* * *

4:30 arrived. Lee carefully got up, the mattress not making a sound. He slipped his shoes and headband on. Lee placed his footing around the piles of Shikamaru's clothes. "Whoa!" He slipped, making a loud thunk on the floor of his room. He quickly got up and turned to Shikamaru. He was still fast asleep. "Okay, good," Lee said quietly, silently entering the hallway. Shikamaru rolled over on his bed, yellow earplugs visible in his ears.


	16. Fun Time

**A/N:** Ha, ha. I love the gym scenes.

Jeremy was still working on the computer in his room. It was 10:00 now, and he was almost finished with the Overpod for Kiba. He yawned. The boy typed a bit more, lots of coding appearing on the blue window as he did so. Jeremy stopped typing, and the window shrunk vertically and disappeared. A new window popped up with a green grid design of the new vehicle. Jeremy closed the window. A few minutes later, he was asleep, his face just shy of the keyboard.

* * *

"So are you coming this weekend?"

"To what?"

"The fair! Duh! It's gonna be awesome!"

"Whatever you say, Odd."

Yumi sat down her tray next to the two talking boys. "Hey, Ulrich, what's up?"

"Odd's trying to convince me to go to the fair this weekend."

"Oh, you're going, too? My parents are going to take me there."

"Uh, yeah, I'm going with... Uh, Odd."

"Okay, cool! I hear they have the craziest rollercoasters!"

Odd leaned over toward Ulrich. "So you've had a change of heart after all, huh? Is it because Yumi's coming?" Ulrich shoved Odd over. "Shut up, Odd." Odd elbowed Ulrich, getting back up.

"Hey, Shikamaru!" Odd called, "You going to the fair this weekend?"

Shikamaru sat down.

"No money. Remember?"

"Oh, right. Uh, well, it's only five dollars..."

"Yeah, for admission. You still have to get tickets for the rides and then food, and if you want anything else..."

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Aelita and Jeremy sat down with their trays of popcorn chicken.

"Not much. Just talking about the fair."

"You guys going?"

"Yeah."

"Uh-huh."

"Duh! How could I not go?"

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to go. I'll have to catch a ride with somebody."

"I'm sure my dad would let me go; you can ride with us."

"Okay, thanks, Jeremy."

"So what's this fair you're all talking about?"

"Oh, hey, Kiba. It's just a little festival they throw every time this year."

"And they have killer roller coasters."

"And it's supposed to have all kinds of cool shows and stuff, too."

"Cool! I'll definitely go!"

"It takes money, though, Kiba."

"Well, that's no big deal, I could probably find something."

"And I don't think pets are allowed."

"What?! What kind of festival is that?! Forget it, I'm not going!"

"How about you, Hinata?"

"Probably not. I... don't have any money, so..."

"Okay. I wonder if Lee wants to come?"

"Might as well see. I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind giving someone a ride."

"Okay, I'll go check." Jeremy walked over a table to where the black-haired boy was sitting and talked to him for a minute. The blonde walked back to the table with the rest of the Lyoko gang.

"Yeah, he wants to come. Apparently, he's earned money one way or another. I told him he'd ride with you."  
"Okay, I'll tell my parents, then."

The bell rang. Aelita turned to the clock. "Time for gym, I guess," she said, picking up her tray. Everyone dumped their trash and headed to the gym building.

* * *

"All right, class, today we play dodgeball. Everyone know the rules?"

"No."

"Okay, then, you take this ball and chuck it at the other team. Any questions?" No one replied. "All right, I'll divide up the teams, then."

Jim did so, and soon everyone was settled. He set a few dodgeballs on the middle of the gym floor. "Go!" he yelled, blowing his whistle. Students rushed forward to snatch a ball before they were all gone. And the game began.

"Watch out!"

"I'm gonna get you for that!"

"Eek!"

"Ack!"

"Ha! Take that!"

"Whoa!"

"Oof!"

"In your face!"

"Shut up!"

"Hey, no head blows!"

"Hey, stand still, dang it!"

"Ha, ha-Oof!" One by one, the teams were weakened. Soon, it was seven versus one.

"Just one standing between us and victoryyyyy! Chaaarge!" Odd yelled as everyone on his team picked up a dodgeball, aiming for Lee.

"Bring it on."

"Yaaah!" The red orbs went flying, all in Lee's relative direction.

"Hey, where'd he-Ugh!" A dodgeball flew into the speaking boy's chest.

"Whoa!"

"Ack!"

"No way!" Odd chucked another ball at Lee. It missed by a landslide.

"Hey, no fair!"

"Three down, four to go! Uh!" Lee chucked another dodgeball. "Wah!" Odd narrowly dodged the speeding sphere, which fled into his teammate behind him.

"Oof!" Three dodgeballs zoomed in toward Lee, who dodged them all easily. He grabbed one, hurling it at one of the remaining three.

"Ugh!" And then there were two. Odd, Lee, and Yumi stood poised, waiting for one to make a move. Lee rushed to the side and gripped a rubbery dodgeball. It soon sped toward the Japanese Lyoko warrior. "Whoa!" she yelled, trying to evade the sphere. It barely skimmed her side. She grumbled as she left the court.

"So it's just you and me now," Odd said, tapping the bright red dodgeball in his hands. An echoing whapping sound resounded from it.

"Yes, it is." The two stood still for a moment.

"Yah!" Odd suddenly yelled, chucking his red ball at top speed. He hurriedly picked up more from the gym floor. Lee dodged the incoming object, as well as its rebound from the hard gym wall. "Uh!" Odd spun around, flinging two more dodgeballs in Lee's direction. Lee dodged the first and caught the other.

"Noooo!" Odd got down on his knees, yelling melodramatically.

"And Team Red wins!" Half of the crowd starting cheering wildy. The other half groaned.

"And I present to thee the grande title of Dodgeball King!" Odd finished with a sad bow.

* * *

The final bell rang. All of the students filed out of the classroom.

"Yes! No more school for the weekend!"

"Yeah! The fair is coming! You going?"

"Yeah!"

A few minutes after school, Aelita, Jeremy, Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, and Lee met up.

"All right, so who's going with whom?" Aelita started.

"Well, you're riding with me," Jeremy replied.

"I'm going with Odd."

"And I will be going with Yumi."

"Okay, got it."

"My dad should be here any minute now."

"Well, there's Mom, come on, Lee, let's go."

"Right." Yumi and Lee entered the Ishiyamas' vehicle. The car drove away shortly after the doors closed. The four remaining watched it leave. They heard a car horn honk.

"Okay, there's my ride!" Odd responded, leading Ulrich to the car. The blonde opened the door.

"Jeez, Odd, how many people can you cram in here?"

"Well, all of my sisters wanted to come, so..."

"Okay, if you say so." The two wriggled into the crowded vehicle, which left afterward.

Aelita and Jeremy waited for a minute before Jeremy's father pulled up in front of the school. "You kids ready for the fair?" he asked through the window.

"Mmm-hmm."

"Yeah."


	17. A Fair Affair

It was 4:00. By now all of the Kadic students had met up and were exploring clustered.

"It's really crowded here," Yumi said, worming through the people.

"Really? I didn't notice," Odd replied sarcastically.

"So where should we go first?" Aelita asked, looking around at the many rides and games. "I say we try out the Thunderbird. I hear it's the craziest roller coaster here."

"I'm really not much for rides like that..."

"Aw, come on, Einstein, lighten up! When's the next time you'll get to ride one? Come on, let's go!" Jeremy yelped as Odd grabbed his arm and pulled him into the line for the biggest roller coaster at the fair. Aelita laughed as the others followed. A few minutes later they were being seated. Jeremy whimpered as the metal bars clicked down. The cars started to move ever so slightly, gaining a bit of speed as they moved up the first hill, a resounding clinging coming from underneath as the chain lifted the train up the track. The clicking stopped as did the train, which had reached the top. Jeremy gulped as he looked down. The train hesitantly moved forward, and then went speeding down the track. Jeremy shrieked and instinctively grabbed the person next to him, who was Aelita. "J-Jeremy!" she yelled, blushing. The riders screamed and shrieked as the Thunderbird zoomed along the twisting track. There was then one final loop. Screams and giddy laughter were heard through the whole passing. The ride was then over. The metal bars clicked up, and the former occupants of the seats evacuated.

"Jeremy? You coming?" Aelita, Lee, Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich were waiting already outside of the cars.

"Ehh... Uh, yeah," Jeremy stuttered, getting out and still shaking.

"Aw, come on, it wasn't that bad."

"Yeah, it was great!"

"Mm-hmm."

"Well, it was really not that fun, but..."

"What are you talking about? That was awesome!"

"I guess?"

"So where to next?"

"Hmm..." Aelita looked around. "How about the ferris wheel?" she suggested, pointing toward the tall circular structure.

"Sure, why not?"

"Okay."

* * *

In Lyoko, the smoke surrounding a tower slowly darkened, turning crimson, a sharp contrast from its blue surroundings.

* * *

"Finally." The line had at last shortened enough to let the Kadic students on. They boarded in groups of four, one of the carts holding Jeremy, Aelita, Odd, and Ulrich and another holding Yumi, Lee, and two other people. A man shut the door of the second aforementioned cart, and the ferris wheel whirred into action. It was very slow at first, but began to speed up. The ride hummed quietly for a while.

The man behind the control box slowly pushed up a lever. The ferris wheel was now at full speed. The worker leaned back, watching the wheel slowly rotate counterclockwise.

Unbeknownst to the man, a black, phantom-like electricity bolt sped along the power wire and darted into the control box. The ferris wheel started to spin faster.

"Huh?" The man sat back up and put a hand on the controls.

"Yow!" He was electrocuted, falling back and making a hard thud on the metal base.

"Do you guys think the ferris wheel is going a little fast?" Jeremy asked.

"Naw, you're just being paranoid. Whoa!" The cart jerked up and continued to accelerate. "Maybe not..."

"You okay, Odd?"

"Of course I am." The ferris wheel was going at almost twice its regular speed now. People aboard started screaming.

"Something's definitely wrong!" Ulrich yelled over the rushing air around the Kadic kids.

"Ya think?!" Odd yelled back, clinging to the center pole. The ferris wheel starting spinning even faster, and the cars began shaking.

"Whoa!" The sudden jolt took Yumi by surprise, sending her toppling over the edge headfirst.

"Uh!" Lee's arm shot out, grabbing Yumi's ankle as his other clung tight to the metal pole in the center of the cart. He pulled Yumi up aways before she got hold of the edge and pulled herself back into the cart.

"It must be a X.A.N.A. attack!" Ulrich shouted against the wind.

"Someone call Shikamaru!" Yumi wrapped her legs around the pole, sitting on the bench in the cart. "I'll try!" she yelled, pulling out and grasping tightly her cell phone.

"Do you have his number?"

"Yeah!" Yumi pressed a few buttons with her left hand before holding the phone up to her ear with both hands.

"Hello?"

"Shikamaru! Get to the factory! Bring Kiba and Hinata, okay? We'll try to figure out how to get Aelita there!"

"Okay, got it. I'll be there." Yumi's phone flew out of her hand, swifted up by the ferris wheel, then clunking down through the bars in the center to the base.

Aelita looked over the edge. "How am I going to get out?"

"Good point--there's no way we could just jump!" Jeremy looked around. "What about through the middle?" he yelled.

"What?"

"We should try going down the bars in the middle!"

Aelita turned her head toward the center of the wheel, squinting so as to not let anything caught in the wind enter her eyes. "I guess we could try it!"

"All right, who goes first?"

"What is going on, anyway? Can we not just wait for the mechanics to come?"

"It's not that kind of problem! It's hard to explain, but we have to get out of here now!"

"If you say so."

"All right, so who goes with me?" Aelita yelled.

"I'll go!"

"All right, Ulrich! Come on!" The two slowly moved over to the inward edge of the cart.

"Now!" The two jumped onto the metal bar.

"Let's get to the middle! There's a ladder there!"

"Got it." The two started to worm toward the center of the ferris wheel.

* * *

"What? You need me there now?"

"Yeah, Yumi said we needed to get to the factory ASAP. There was a lot of screaming in the background, so it must be something bad."

"Oh, okay. I'll be there, then. Bye."

"See ya." Shikamaru hung up. "Now for Hinata," he said, dialing her number while jumping through the woods outside Kadic.

* * *

"Whoa!" Aelita almost lost her grip as the ferris wheel started shaking.

"Hurry!" Both Lyoko warriors clung tight to the center circle.

"So how does this com-Whoa!" Ulrich yelled, the ladder unfolding and dropping him down, then spinning along with the rest of the wheel.

"Hold on, Ulrich!" Aelita called, climbing the ladder away from the center. Aelita soon got to the edge. "All right, here goes!" The ground approached, and Aelita made a flying leap off of the ferris wheel. "Umph!" She landed on her hands and knees. Getting up, she tried to ignore the blood on her hands and knees and ran out of the fair.

* * *

"Transfer, Kiba. Transfer, Aelita. Transfer, Hinata. Scanner, Kiba. Scanner, Aelita. Scanner, Hinata. Virtualization." The three appeared in the middle of the arctic sector.

"The tower's due north."

"Got it. We have to hurry, guys; it's really bad back there." The trio started running through the sector.

* * *

"Aah!" Ulrich squeezed his eyes shut as the ladder swept around in circles along with the rest of the ferris wheel. The ladder unlocked, now lengthening and shortening as the ride spun. Ulrich swung his legs around the lowermost bar, hanging on for dear life.

* * *

"Uh!" Hinata grunted, throwing a kunai at the hornet. It exploded, leaving two to deal with.

"Energy Field!" Aelita yelled, aiming her attack at the miniswarm. Both dodged and fired lasers from their tails. Kiba absorbed one with his arm blade, Aelita evading the other.

"Energy Field!" Another hornet down. The other started madly throwing badly aimed lasers at the group, only one hitting.

"Careful, Kiba! One more hit and you're finished!"

"Got it." Hinata chucked a last kunai to explode the hornet. "I can see the tower; come on!" The three dashed toward the destination.

* * *

"Hold on!" Jeremy screamed as the ferris wheel gained speed once more.

"I think I know to do that!" Odd yelled back, clinging to the edge of the cart from the inside.

* * *

"There it is! Hurry!" The three Lyoko warriors sprinted to the not-very-distant tower. Aelita slowed, entering as the outside of the tower shimmered. She walked to the center, slowly flipping as she rose to the next level of the tower. Her foot made contact with the outermost ring, lighting it up.

* * *

The sudden jerk in speed flung Ulrich's legs off of the rung. He shouted as his hands started to slip.

* * *

Aelita stepped to the center, a blue-tinted panel appearing before her. She placed her hand upon it, removing it. Her name flashed.

* * *

"Yaaaah!" Ulrich's hands flew off of the rung, and he went flying off of the ferris wheel, the ground coming up fast.

* * *

The word "Code" appeared on the screen. Aelita entered "Lyoko".

"Tower deactivated."

"Return to the past, now!" A white orb spread from the factory, covering as far as it could reach.

Ulrich's nose was just shy of the pavement when the scene was swept in white.

* * *

"So, you guys still wanna go to the fair?"

"Yeah. But you're not getting me on the ferris wheel."

"What, Ulrich, are you scared of ferris wheels now?"

"Aw, just shut it, Odd."


	18. Cast & Company

**A/N: **If you've seen Mulan, and you're a rabid fangirl like me, you'll also appreciate a certain ninja's role... *heart* And yes, I love the gym scenes, even if they don't make much sense. It's just fun to write. x3 Enjoy, and comment if you like!

The announcements came on, but the class paid practically no attention to them until a certain one was made.

"...Sign-ups for the school play are now accepted. Auditions will be held on Thursday after school. This year, our play is going to be Mulan. The sign-up sheet will be in the cafeteria during all lunches. Lunch today is-" The announcer was cut off by the racuous class. There was a thudding on the other end, and the microphone squealed violently.

"Aagh!" The class covered their ears. Jim was speaking now.

"And no one go near the sewers! They're having some special purifier put in. It's closed off pretty well, so you should be able to tell where the construction is. Have a nice day, everyone." There was a thunk on the other end, and the announcements ended. Aelita shot a worried glance at Jeremy.

"We'll just hope for the best," he whispered.

"Right," the pink-haired girl muttered.

* * *

"So, are you guys gonna try out for the school play?" Aelita asked.

"Yeah, probably," Ulrich replied.

"Maybe," Jeremy said hesitantly.

"Nah," Shikamaru responded.

"I'm not sure what part I want to try out for, though," Kiba said.

"I think you can just show up and audition without knowing."

"You think so?"

"That's what happened in the last play, so I would imagine so..."

"Well, I guess we'll see what I'll end up getting. I'm gonna go sign up."

"Good idea. I think I will, too." Most of the Lyoko crew had signed up by the time the bell rang.

* * *

Soon Thursday had arrived. The class waited in anticipation until, at last, the final bell rang. Half of the class shot out, the other half not quite so quickly. The auditorium was soon filled as the applicants for the school play occupied the room. Murmurs and nervous shuffling echoed softly until Delmas stepped onto the stage, standing up to the microphone and clearing his throat. The auditioners settled down to listen.

"Welcome, everyone, to the auditions for this year's school play. We will require you to say a few select lines for different characters, and we'll see who gets what part. So let's begin." The principal stepped down as the drama teacher announced, "First: Leah Rinee..."

And so the auditions continued. One by one, everyone quoted the movie. One by one, everyone exited the stage. Soon all of the auditioners had finished.

"All right, everyone, you all did well. But we'll have to cut some of you. Who made it and what part they get will be posted tomorrow morning outside the cafeteria." The house lights came back on, and the students exited the auditorium.

* * *

"All right! I can't wait to see what part I got!" Kiba started enthusiastically.

"Yeah, go ahead," Shikamaru replied with a shrug.

"You wanna come, too?"

"Why? I didn't try out. You can just tell me what you got later, 'kay?"

"Okay, I'll be back." Kiba left the fellow ninja at the breakfast table and made his way through the crowd around the posted roles. There were a bunch of murmurs of disbelief, joy, and ridicule as everyone saw who was on the list.

"So who'd you get?" Shikamaru asked as Kiba reentered the cafeteria.

"Shan Yu."

"Isn't he one of the bad guys?"

"Uh-huh. And Yumi got the main part."

"Mulan?"

"Yeah, they're both Chinese, too."

"No, Yumi's Japanese, I think."

"Oh, yeah?" The first bell rang before the two ninja got the chance to meet up with the rest of the Lyoko gang.

* * *

Lunch had arrived, and Aelita, Jeremy, Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, Kiba, Hinata, and Shikamaru had been seated.

"Hey, guys, did you see what part I got?"

"Yeah, congratulations, Yumi."

"And can you believe what I got? The cricket!" Aelita seemed a bit shocked.

"Is that good or bad?"

"It's a cricket!"

"Bad, then?"

"Yes!"

"I got Ling!" Odd shouted. "Oh, and wait'll you hear what Jeremy got!"

"What did he get?"

"Mushu!"

"What?" The table's inhabitants burst out laughing.

"Yeah, yeah, very funny," Jeremy said, adjusting his glasses. "So Yumi got Mulan, Aelita got the lucky cricket, Odd got Ling, I got... Mushu... What did the rest of you get?"

"I got the emperor."

"That's cool."

"Yeah, playing an old guy that only shows up for half a second is real cool."

"Aw, don't be so crabby about it, Ulrich. So how about you, Hinata, what'd you get?"

"Oh, I got one of the girls without a speaking part..."

"Huh? Where do they have those?"

"I think they're in the part with the song 'A Girl Worth Fighting For'...Or s-something like that..."

"Oh, yeah, those ones that work in the rice field?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"Okay. Did you guys see who got Shang?"

"Nuh-uh. Who?"

"I didn't see either, I just wanted to know."

"Well, you could just go up and look, you know."

"You don't have to get uppity about it, Odd."

"Sheesh. Sor-ry." There was a tinge of sarcasm in the blonde's voice.

"Odd, would it kill you to just be considerate once in a while?"

"What, I make one comment and you're all going nuts!"

"Hey, guys!" The conversation was interrupted by an exited boy coming to the table.

"Hey, Lee."

"Mind if I sit down?"

"Go ahead."

"So what's up?"

"Did you see what part I got?"

"Nu-uh. What'd you get?"

"Shang."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh."

"Cool. Practice starts Monday, right?"

"Yes."

* * *

A minute or so later, the bell rang.

"Time for gym."

"Yeah, let's go."

The crew soon got to the field area outside the gym. Today was tug-of-war. People were running around, yelling, and shoving.

"Hey! Settle down, everyone! I'm the one that's choosing the teams!" Jim shouted over the rabble. A couple of people moaned, and most everyone stopped their chaos. "Okay, the first team..." Jim started. Students filed onto each side of the long, knotted rope as their names were called. "...and Belpouis. All right, everyone ready?" The two teams hoisted up their ends of the reddish brown rope and prepared themselves.

"Go!" The rope was immediately snatched to the right, causing the left team, and a couple of members of the right, to topple over, and the white tag in the middle of the rope darted past the line spray-painted on the grass. "And Team One wins," Jim said after a pause.

"No fair! They have Lee on their team!" The members of Team Two started yelling, and Team One soon joined in argument, resulting in a bit of a riot.

"Hey! Hey! Calm down, everyone. Okay, we'll do it again-" The crowd uproared again, causing Jim to raise his voice, "-and I'll move some more people over to Team Two!" The students quieted as Jim announced five names, and Kiba, Yumi, Leah, Nicholas, and DeMille walked over to the left side of the rope, grabbing on.

"Ready? And...Go!" The right side still won by a landslide, just a bit slower than the first match. A few more names were called, a few more people switched teams, and a couple more matches, all with Team One victorious, passed before the final match. Now Team One consisted of Lee alone, and everyone else was on the other side of the rope.

"We have to win this time," Kiba snorted. A couple of people let out a hmph of agreement, but settled down.

"Go!" Jim shouted. The tag on the rope started moving to the right, but the left team wasn't going to give up that easily. For a minute, they actually gained ground, the tag slowing and even starting to the left. The moment was soon over, though. The rope continually slipped to the right, and in one last pull, the tag was over the line.

"Aw!"

"No way!" More groans and protests followed, and even a couple of calls for a rematch, but the bell rang, leaving all but one student exiting unhappily.


	19. In the Spotlight

**A/N: **And heeeeere's the next chappy! Be excited, all ye mystery fans, for the chapter after this reveals all! Well, most, at least...

"All right, everyone, today is the final rehearsal! The play is tomorrow! Everyone, take your places for the first scene! And Herve, the new curtain controls are beside the colored spotlight controls, all right?"

The rehearsal proceeded smoothly for a few scenes.

"Oh, Great Stone Dragon!" Jeremy called, then proceeding with the scene. He took his miniature gong and whapped a mallet against it close to the fake Great Stone Dragon.

"Arf! Arfarf!"

"What was that?"

"Arfarf!"

"Is that a dog in there?!" Odd immediately shot forward.

"Ling isn't in this scene, Odd!"

"Arfarf! Yarf!" Jim got onstage and picked up the hollow prop of the statue. It crumbled apart as it was supposed to do later in the scene, with Kiwi sprinting from it.

"Hey!" Jim yelled, starting to run after Odd's dog. Kiwi took a zig-zagging route, going through the curtains and yipping all the way. Jim continued after the dog.

"Whoa!" He stumbled, his foot caught in the curtains. Kiwi darted out the open door unharmed.

Jim, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"We'll continue with rehearsal, then. Jeremy, center stage!"

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

"Welcome, everyone, to the Kadic school play, our production of Mulan." Delmas walked off the stage and the several lights above the stage grew brighter as the house lights dimmed. The play proceeded, and there was no dog in the Great Stone Dragon this time around. Everything was going as planned, and the song "I'll Make a Man Out of You" soon started.

"Let's get down to business to defeat," Lee shattered the two pots with a rod, "the Huns!

Did they send me daughters when I asked for sons?

You're the saddest bunch I ever met, but you can bet before we're through," Lee snatched his head to Yumi as was in the play, "Mister, I'll make a man out of you!

Tranquil as a forest, but-" The spotlights suddenly shattered. Startled, the actors jumped out of the way of the falling glass shards. The room was in darkness, and everyone could clearly see the electricity buzzing across the spotlights. Suddenly, a bolt shot down, narrowly missing Yumi. She looked to her back where Jeremy was, and he nodded. They went backstage to get Aelita, having to dodge a couple of bolts on the way. The drama teacher signaled to Herve to close the curtains. He turned the knob, flinching when a few bolts shot across the controls. The teacher ran up and closed the curtains herself, telling the audience unnecessarily that they were having technical difficulties. The gathered Lyoko crew surged toward the metal door, Ulrich barely avoiding a lightning bolt when Kiba made contact with the door handle to open it. He snatched his hand back.

"What the...?"

Ulrich tried, having the same reaction. "It's just like that time in the cafeteria," he said, rubbing his hand.

"So how are we going to ge-Whoa!" Odd dodged an electrical surge.

"Hurry, let's try the other doors!" Jeremy said, kicking off his Mushu costume.

"Right!"

The other doors were all the same. "No way!" Kiba charged the door, but it didn't budge, only shocking the ninja and sending him back.

"I guess we'll need to get a lot more force than that," Jeremy muttered. Another electrical burst shot through the middle of the Lyoko warriors. Kiba was about to try ramming the door again.

"No, it won't work, Kiba," Aelita said before the genin started running.

"What are you guys doing? You heard the teacher; we are only having some trouble with the controls."

"No, Lee, you don't understand. We need to get out now!"

"Why?"

"It's hard to explain. We just have to go!"

"So why are you trying to ram the door?"

"It's stuck."

"What?" Lee walked up to it.

"No, don't touch it! It'll electrocute you!"

"What? How could it do that?"

"Ugh. Just...It can, okay?"

"Well, okay, if you say so." Lee started to walk away.

"Maybe he could force the door open, though!"

"Lee, wait!"

"Yes?"

"Could you try to open the door?"

"Not without knowing why."

Yumi glanced at Jeremy. He sighed. "Okay, if you have to know..." He proceeded to tell Lee as much as he needed to know about X.A.N.A. and Lyoko.

"All right..."

"And you need to open the door quickly or you'll get electrocuted pretty badly."

"Right." Lee lifted his foot and kicked the door open.

The Lyoko warriors rushed through, getting into the forest in but a minute.

"What the heck is that?"

"Oh, no. Remember, they're having contruction in the sewers. I guess we'll have to take the long way. Come on."

Everyone arrived at the factory in a little over five minutes.

"C'mon, Jeremy!" Ulrich called after he had slid down the rope. Jeremy, still panting from the mad dash, nodded and followed, leaning against the side of the elevator as the doors closed. He got into the computer room as the others rode down to the scanner room. Jeremy adjusted his earpiece and started typing.

"Transfer, Aelita. Transfer, Yumi. Transfer, Odd. Scanner, Aelita. Scanner, Yumi. Scanner, Odd. Virtualization." The three appeared in the forest sector, Hinata and Kiba soon following them. "The tower's east, pretty far away. I'll virtualize your vehicles."

Ulrich leaned against the wall in the supercomputer room, watching the door.

In Lyoko, four vehicles appeared. Aelita and Yumi boarded the Overwing, Odd got atop his Overboard, and Hinata stepped onto the Overdisc.

"The last one is yours, Kiba. It's the Overpod." Kiba jumped in the spherical vehicle, and everyone took off, heading east.

* * *

"Hey, Lee! Did you see where Kiba and they went?"

"Yes; I forced the door open for them."

Shikamaru looked at the door. "It looks closed to me."

"It closed after they left." The chunin looked up at the ceiling. Less lightning bolts were jumping around, but they were aimed at him now.

* * *

"Yah!" Yumi threw a fan at the krab, slicing it across the top. It staggered and exploded. The other krab shot a few lasers at the Lyoko warriors. One came close to hitting the Overpod, but none hit their target. Odd steered the Overboard up, yelled, "Laser Arrow!", and shot a few arrows at the monster. The krab exploded shortly after contact, leaving the path ahead unblocked. The warriors reboarded their vehicles and set off again for the tower.

"Guys, watch out, there's-" A blast from behind knocked Yumi off the Overwing as her virtual form unraveled. Aelita's head whipped around to see a few hornets coming after the crew. Odd destroyed one with an arrow, but two still remained, firing more lasers. Most missed, but one devirtualized the Overwing. Aelita jumped off before it fully disappeared.

"Energy Field!" A pink orb flew from the girl's hand and destroyed a second hornet. Arrows and kunai were launched at the remaining hornet, but it dodged them all and sent a few more lasers at the warriors. Kiba absorbed the blasts with his arm blades, the lasers lauched at Odd easily evaded.

* * *

Shikamaru dodged yet another electricity bolt shooting toward him.

"Come on, guys, hurry up!" The bolts were coming faster now, harder to see with the audience in absolute chaos.

* * *

Hinata clung tight to the Overboard, hitching a ride and finally getting her hand on the hornet's Eye of X.A.N.A.

"Gentle Fist," she said, a blue burst finishing the monster. She dropped down to the ground and got back on her vehicle. The tower came into view as the warriors rode on, Aelita behind Odd on his vehicle. The Overboard lowered, and Aelita touched ground, entering the tower.

* * *

No one could hear his own thoughts in the rising fret of the crowd. The bolts were almost impossible to dodge; Lee had already had to save Shikamaru from one. A small current caught Shikamaru's hand, which he immediately snatched up and grasped in his other.

* * *

The rings in the tower lit up as Aelita entered. She reached the center, tilting up her head and ascending to the next level. Her foot made contact with the outermost ring, which immediately brightened. The others shone as Aelita approached the center. The interface appeared. She placed her hand on it, and "Aelita" flashed on the screen.

* * *

Some other people had been electrocuted now; Herve and Delmas were out cold, and the bolts were lasting longer and still coming fast. Out of the corner of his eye, Shikamaru saw one coming toward him. His head instinctively jerked in the direction of the miniature lightning.

* * *

"Code" appeared on the screen. Aelita entered "Lyoko" onto the interface. The binary data around her started falling.

"Tower deactivated," she said.

"All right, return to the past now!" A white beam of light came from the holosphere, expanding and soon covering the scene, freezing the near contact of the electricity to Shikamaru and washing the world in white.

* * *

"You guys took long enough," Shikamaru said to Kiba, with whom he was in the woods as he was yesterday, which was now today.

"Hey, you're still alive, aren't you?" Kiba responded, putting his hands into his pockets.


	20. Agent Gray Hair

**A/N:** This chapter was, is, and always will be awkwardsauce for me. Can't quite say why, but it is... And the mystery revealed!

Shiraga rushed through the forest, soon arriving at the border of the Leaf Village.

"Hey, who-Ugh!" The guards collapsed, unconscious. Their forms faded to black and disappeared.

"Wonder where they went," Shiraga said with a hint of uninterest in his voice. "So, my second target..." He held out Nara Shikamaru's information card that Kabuto had provided. "And there is his house," said Shiraga after a moment, looking up at the Nara household. The gray-haired man took off his sound headband so the light from Shikamaru's room would not cast a gleam and give him away. He clung to the side of the building using chakra grip and made a few hand signs. Shiraga took a quick glance around before pouncing in through the window.

* * *

"Number three," Shiraga said the next day, looking through the forest. He concealed Kiba's info card in his sleeve and sunk into a tree. Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru were out jumping trees every few seconds, each on a different tree.

"Haven't found her yet?" Kiba asked, jumping to the tree and meeting with his teammates. Shiraga revealed himself in the same tree.

"Huh?" The two genin turned around to see Shiraga staring back at them.

"What do you want?" Shino asked. Shiraga immediately jumped forward at him, kunai in hand. Shino barely withdrew a kunai in time to block. Shiraga rushed forward at the other ninja. Kiba easily dodged.

"Akamaru!" Kiba tossed a food pill to his buddy and ate one himself. Akamaru jumped atop Kiba. "Man-Beast Clones!" There was a puff of smoke, from which came, "Fang Over Fang!"

Shiraga sank back down into the tree until the two had passed, then driving a punch into one of the clones. Akamaru was back to normal and thudded against a neighboring tree.

"Akamaru!" Kiba caught him before the dog fell to the ground. The boy set his companion down on a branch of the tree. Akamaru shook himself and growled. "Why, you-Uh!" Shiraga suddenly appeared behind Kiba, grabbing him by his hoodie. Kiba's body started to slacken. Akamaru jumped up to try to save him, but both of them faded to black and disappeared.

"What did you do?!" Shiraga turned around to face the speaker, Shino. The sound ninja smirked and sank into the tree.

* * *

"Yes, sir," Shiraga said, giving a curt nod and jumping out of the building. "So the vessel should be on its way soon...At last," he said, running out of the Sound Village and heading to the Leaf. He turned to the right, deciding to take a detour lest he collide with the forces Tsunade had sent out. The gray-haired ninja flipped out the next information card. He glanced at the statistic pentagon on the card before inserting it back in his sleeve. He smirked a bit.

"No ninjutsu or genjutsu... This one should be a snap. However he could even affect anything is beyond me, but it is Lord Orochimaru's order..."

Within a day, Shiraga was at the Leaf Village gate. Not too far off, the next target as well as another ninja were standing by a large set of stairs. _He's injured; that certainly makes it easier, but there is another with him on whom I have no information. How shall I go about this?_ Shiraga thought for a moment before settling on a simple plan. He did a simple transformation, donning a standard Leaf village outfit, and headed toward the two.

"Excuse me?" he said as politely as possible.

Neji stopped in the middle of a sentence. "Yes, what is it?"

"I need to see the Hokage. Could you please direct me?"

"...Right. I'll be back, Lee." Neji started toward the Hokage's building with Shiraga at his heels.

"And it's right there," the Leaf ninja said, pointing at the building now just ahead of the two.

"Thank you very much," said Shiraga. "Oh, and one more thing?" Shiraga put his hands behind his back, disguising his hand signs.

"Yes?" Neji waited for a response, but Shiraga gave none. Suddenly, Neji's eyes flew wide, he collapsed, and he vanished.

"Now, for whom I was sent..." Shiraga said calmly, walking back to the inside edge of the village gates.

He arrived at his destination quickly. "Are you Rock Lee?"

"Yes. Do you need me?" Shiraga looked around. There were too many people. Too many witnesses.

"Yes, someone was looking for you. Follow me; I think I remember where she was." Lee hesitated, but decided to follow.

Shiraga led him to a rather barren area within the village gates.

"I do not see anyone," said Lee, looking around. "Are you sure she was here?" Shiraga did not answer. Lee confusedly looked toward him. The sound ninja charged at him, catching him off-guard. Shiraga charged again, kunai in hand, but he missed.

"What are you doing?" Shiraga looked up.

"What I was told to!" he yelled, running toward the leaf ninja again. Lee stuck his arm up, catching Shiraga's hand. With a grunt, he threw the sound ninja back. Shiraga made a few hand signs and stuck his arm out.

"Uh!" The attack narrowly missed, Lee dropping his crutch in his dodging. Shiraga rushed forward yet again, stopping before he reached Lee, and as if he had foreseen it, whipped around and struck Lee, who was behind him. The leaf shinobi faded to black and disappeared from the Land of Fire.

"What the-?!" Shiraga's head snapped to the side to catch a blur coming from a shrub not too far away from him.

"Who's there?!" he yelled.

* * *

"Lady Hokage!" TenTen came rushing through the building. Izumo turned around.

"What is it?"

"It's important! I need to see the Hokage!"

"Okay, I don't think she's doing anything. Go ahead through."

"TenTen? What is it?"

"It's Lee! I'm not sure what happened, but he was out in a field, and some gray-haired guy must have been fighting him. He made some hand signs, and Lee just disappeared!"

"What? What do you mean, 'just disappeared'?"

"The gray-haired guy struck him, and Lee froze, and he... just faded."

"Is that all you saw?"

"Well, there was one more thing..."

"What?"

"In that last attack, a headband fell from his sleeve. From where I was, it looked like..."

"Like what?"

"A Sound Village headband."


	21. Rush

**A/N**: Not sure how most of the stuff around Kadic works, so I made a lot up. Hope it works for y'all. Comment if you like!

"Hey, guys, have you heard? There's going to be a surprise dorm inspection tomorrow right after school."

"Not much of a surprise if you know."

"Well, yeah, I heard it in math class. A bunch of people were talking about it before the teacher told them to quiet down."

"Okay, thanks for the heads-up, Shikamaru."

"Don't mention it." The bell rang, and the history teacher began class.

* * *

"All right, I'm done here. How about you, Hinata?" Aelita said, closing her wardrobe.

"Mmm-hmm, I'm finished, too."

"Okay." Aelita sat down on her own bed.

* * *

"Why are you cleaning up already? The inspection's not gonna be till tomorrow afternoon." Shikamaru watched his roommate put things up.

"I am not going to be here in the morning; you know that, and it is better to do things beforehand, anyway."

* * *

"And that should be good."

"Yup." Kiba looked around the room. "And Akamaru knows to get out right before school ends, so we'll be fine there."

"All right, great. Now, back to work." Jeremy turned around and booted up his computer.

* * *

Odd leaned against the side of the room with his headset on.

"Odd, aren't you going to help?"

"Nah. I can get it in the morning."

"In case you hadn't noticed, you're really not much of a morning person."

"Just quit being a worrywart. I'll get to it when I get to it."

* * *

The final bell rang, and students shot out of class.

"What's your hurry, Odd?"

"I didn't clean my half of the dorm! Gotta hurry before it gets inspected!"

"Well, good luck."

"You're telling me. I'll see you later."

"Bye." Kiba walked out of the building.

* * *

Odd opened the room to his dorm.

"Aaah! Kiwi!" The dog was chomping down on a pillow; a lot of feathers had already fallen out. Kiwi shook his head, scattering more feathers across the room. "No! Bad Kiwi!" Odd tugged the pillow away from his pet. The door opened slowly.

"Hey, I'm here to pick up-What the heck happened in here?" Odd, who was vigorously picking up feathers, turned around.

"Oh, it's you, Shikamaru. Good, I thought it was going to be Jim or somebody."

"Need some help?"

"Yeah. Come on." The two started picking up feathers.

Lee's voice came from the hallway. "Shikamaru! They are coming! What is taking you so long?" He peeped in through the door.

"Hurry!" Odd said, fumbling a feather.

"Here, let me help."

"No, wait-!" Lee ran into the room. The collected feathers flew up.

"Aaah!"

"Sorry!" The three started plucking up the feathers.

"Hurry, put them back in the pillow!" Shikamaru yelled. He took Kiwi, who submitted a bit unwillingly, and ran out of the dorm. Odd shoved the feathers into the pillow just as Jim and Delmas walked into the room.

* * *

"All right. You girls have a nice day." The inspectors closed the door to Aelita's and Hinata's room. Aelita's cell phone started ringing.

"Jeremy? Mmm-hmm. Right. I'll be there." The pink-haired girl hung up. "There's an activated tower in the mountain sector. Come on."

The Lyoko warriors exited the dorm and headed to the woods.

"I can't believe this; they're still working on the sewers? Oh, well, I guess we'll have to go the long way, then. It's this way, Hinata." Aelita changed course a bit and soon reached the familiar white building. There they met up with Odd.

"Huh?"

"Did you hear that?"

"Uh-huh."

"I think that was Ulrich!"

"Uh! Hey, wait!"

Odd had already shot off.

"Do you think it's a trap?" Aelita asked.

Hinata made a few hand signs. "Byakugan!" she said on the final one. She looked after where Odd had started off.

"No, Ulrich's not there!" Hinata ran after the blonde. "Odd! Stop!" She stepped quickly down the stairs.

"Ulrich?" Odd looked around the turbines room.

"Odd! It's a trap!"

"Huh?"

"Hurry, get out!" Hinata shoved him to the other side of the door. It slammed shut.

"Hinata!"

"I'll be okay! Hurry and get to the scanners!"

"All right!"


	22. Water Water Everywhere

**A/N**: Hm. I quite like this chapter, actually. Do you?

"Transfer, Odd. Transfer, Aelita. Transfer, Ulrich. Scanner, Odd. Scanner, Aelita. Scanner, Ulrich. Virtualization."

Kiba and Yumi soon followed.

"The tower's pretty far from here; I'll bring up your vehicles." The Overbike, Overwing, Overboard, and Overpod appeared. The five on Lyoko boarded them without hesitation.

* * *

Hinata drew a kunai, ever watching around the room with her Byakugan to see what X.A.N.A. was going to try to do to her. A faint dripping sound came from above her. Hinata looked up, wiping the drop of water from her cheek. There were several pipes on the ceiling, the one right above her with a small leak. Another trace of water fell from it.

"Uh!" Hinata whipped around just in time to see another pipe buckle. A burst of water came, then followed by a slow but steady stream.

* * *

"Watch out, guys, some krabs coming up!"

"Got it." Ulrich unsheathed a sword. A few seconds later, X.A.N.A.'s monsters were visible. A flash of red light signaled the first laser. The Overboard easily swerved out of the way.

"Laser Arrow!" Odd yelled, flying above the krab and aiming at its Eye of X.A.N.A.

* * *

A few more pipes has ruptured now, and the water had started to rise. A rumble in the ground to Hinata's right brought her attention. The square flooring there shook itself from the ground and rose up to the ceiling, making the room much smaller. The water level rose to cover Hinata's feet.

* * *

The last krab of the group fired a laser just before collapsing, sending Kiba back to the scanner.

"All right, guys, you're clear for the time being," Jeremy said, devirtualizing the Overpod. "Now, what did you say happened to Hinata?"

"She got locked in the turbines room. I don't know what X.A.N.A. was planning, though."

"Locked?" Kiba was now behind Jeremy.

"Yeah, I thought I heard someone scream in there, so I went, but Hinata shoved me out in the last second, and the door slammed shut," Odd elaborated.

"Did you guys try to open it?"

"No, we just left Hinata for dead-Of course we tried to open it!"

"Okay, fine, just checking."

* * *

The water was up to Hinata's waist now, and she looked around the ceiling. Only three pipes had exploded. There were still plenty more unharmed. The number was made one less in just a matter of seconds.

* * *

"Looks like X.A.N.A. grouped up all of his monsters today," Yumi commented, readying a fan.

"Yeah, I know. As if we didn't have long enough to go already."

"Hey, Kiba, where you going?"

"I'm gonna see if I can get through that door."

"All right, go ahead. Just be careful."

"Got it." The elevator's mechanisms locked and the elevator descended. Jeremy turned back to the computer just when one of the megatanks fired.

* * *

Hinata stepped up one more stair as the water level continued to rise. There were only four more steps uncovered now, and the water kept coming.

"Hinata! Hinata, are you in there?"

"Uh? Kiba?"

"Are you okay?"

"Mmm-hmm. The room's filling up with water, though..."

"I'll try to get you out, okay?"

"I-Okay." Hinata went up another step, shaking the water off her leg.

* * *

"Impact!" The megatank exploded.

"All right, guys, you're almost to the tower."

"Good."

* * *

Kiba slammed against the door, which shook a little but did not give. The highest step now underwater, Hinata decided to swim away from the door.

* * *

"All right, there's the tower!" Aelita ran to the building, slowing as she entered. The girl stepped to the center, raising her head as she floated to the next level.

* * *

Hinata gasped for breath, finding an air pocket in the almost water-filled room. Her head fell back under.

* * *

Aelita's foot made contact with the edge of the plane, lighting it up. She stepped to the center.

* * *

Hinata grabbed a pipe and rose above the water.

* * *

Aelita placed her hand on the interface which previously appeared. Her name flashed, soon to be replaced by "Code".

* * *

The pipe underneath Hinata ruptured, and she screamed as she plunged into the water.

"Hinata!"

* * *

Aelita entered "Lyoko".

"Tower deactivated."

"Return to the past, now!"

* * *

Hinata was back on her bed in her and Aelita's room.

"Great, you're all right," the pink-haired girl said from across the room.

"Yeah." Hinata stared out the window vacantly.

* * *

Later that night, Aelita sat up in her bed. She checked the clock, which read midnight.

"What a nightmare." The girl swiped her hand across her forehead. "Huh?" Hinata was not in her bed. "Hinata?" Aelita got up to check, but her roommate was, sure enough, missing.

Aelita searched some of the campus before spotting Hinata by herself on a path in the forest.

"Okay, one more try," said the ninja, panting, before Aelita figured out all was well and went back to her room.


	23. Detour

"...is spinach quiche," the girl on the announcements finished. There was a click.

"Okay, class-" the teacher was interrupted by another announcement.

"There have been several thefts recorded lately, so be sure to keep a close eye on your things. And if you're the thief, you need to stop and turn yourself in. That concludes the morning announcements."

"As I was say-Odd! How many times do I have to tell you not to put pencils up your nose?!"

* * *

"I can't believe this! You should know by now that weapons are not allowed at this school! I'm confiscating these, and detention for a week!" The group had a bit of mixed reactions.

"But-" Lee sighed, "yes, sir." Kiba was not going to go without an argument.

"Well, how were we supposed to know? At our old school, weapons were required!"

"What? Well, that must not have been a very good school, then."

"No way! The Academy was a great school!"

"Well, this is not the Academy. Weapons are not allowed in any circumstances. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes."

"Yeah."

"Uh-huh."

"All right, I am going to have to confiscate these." Delmas recieved all of the arms. "Detention starts tomorrow after school. You may go." The four walked out of the administration building into the midafternoon.

* * *

"...2000 words, can you believe that?!" Odd complained as his group walked through the school crossroads. "Oh! Hey, guys!" he yelled, waving at the four ninja.

"Hey," the group responded unenthusiastically.

"What's up? You guys don't sound very happy," Yumi commented.

"We got in trouble for bringing weapons to school. Detention for a week."

"Ouch."

"You're telling me."

"Well, see you guys later. I have to get started on my science assignment."

"Oh, yeah, that. Yeah, I'd better get started, too."

" 'Kay. Bye."

"See ya."

* * *

A krab in the arctic sector whirred past a tower, rotating a bit as the white fog quickly darkened to a deep red.

* * *

"All right, done." Jeremy filed his paper away into its folder. He turned on his computer and brought up the program he had been working on earlier. After typing but a few digits, another window popped up above it. "Uh-oh," he said, stopping his typing.

"What's up?"

"X.A.N.A.'s activated a tower. I'll call up everyone."

"Okay. Should I go ahead?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll be there in a minute."

"I'll be waiting."

"Right. Ulrich?" Jeremy notified the others as Kiba made his way to the factory.

* * *

Delmas turned the lights out, locking the door to his office behind him. There was a thunk reverberating through the door, coming from where the principal was just a moment ago.

"Hmm?" He turned around. There were a few more loud taps, some of the wood splitting. "What is-," the principal started, reopening the door. Delmas immediately drew back as the confiscated weapons seemingly flew out on their own past him. There were a couple of startled yells as they made their way through the administration halls.

"All right. Uh-huh. Got it. I'll be there in a sec." Shikamaru pushed the disconnect button on his phone. He got up from his previous sitting position on his dorm bed.

"Where are you going, Shikamaru?"

"Oh, I'm going to the, uh, tryouts for the school chess team."

"Oh, okay. Good luck."

"Thanks." Shikamaru exited the dorm.

* * *

The assembled group of Lyoko warriors rushed through the forest. Being first, Yumi tugged the manhole cover off of the hole. The six entered easily. Shikamaru and Hinata started to head toward the factory.

"This'll complicate things a little," Jeremy said, examining the blank spot in the sewer where his scooter, as well as a couple of the gang's skateboards had been.

"What's wrong?" The two ninja in the lead had stopped.

"Oh, nothing," Aelita assured. She turned to Jeremy. "I guess we'll just all have to walk. Not that big a deal, right?"

"Yeah. I figure we're lucky enough that they stopped working on the sewers. Hopefully our way won't be blocked by anything new."

"Right." The Lyoko warriors continued on their usual routes.

"Uh-oh, looks like the board's gone." Sure enough, the plank crossing the sewer water had been removed. The two ninja easily jumped to the other side.

"I still don't get how you can do that. But how are we going to get over there?"

"I guess we could always swim across, but..." Yumi looked doubtedly at the sewage.

"Yeah, I agree. Hey, how about the fence right by the ladder? We could climb across that to get to the other side!"

"Good idea." Shikamaru and Hinata stayed on the other side as Yumi, Odd, Aelita, Ulrich, and lastly Jeremy continued through the sewer.

"One at a time," Aelita said once the group had reached the aforementioned fence. Aelita crossed first.


	24. Armed & Dangerous

**A/N:** I've yet to get a good glimpse on what paper bombs are made of, and though I'm now suspecting it's nitrocellulose, I did it differently here. Pardon inaccuracies, please, and comment if you like.

The gathering of weaponry clashed against the side of the hole trying to all get in at once. They swarmed through the sewers, catching the occasional glimpse of light but not making a sound.

* * *

"All right, Jeremy, your turn!" Most of the Lyoko crew had climbed up the ladder to the factory by now. Aelita waved at the only person left in the sewers to come forward already.

"Oka-Whoa!" A kunai shot past Jeremy's nose, clanging against the fence. He warily turned his head and gaped at the vast collection of weaponry.

"Jeremy!"

"Aelita, hurry, get in the scanners!"

"O-Okay." Aelita hesitated before climbing up the ladder.

* * *

"Transfer, Kiba. Transfer, Ulrich. Transfer, Hinata. Scanner, Kiba. Scanner, Ulrich. Scanner, Hinata. Virtualization." The three appeared in Lyoko, soon followed by Aelita, Yumi, and Odd. "The tower's directly south. You've got a clear path until then. Aelita, where's Jeremy?"

"He's still back in the sewer. There were a lot of throwing weapons after him. We've got to hurry!"

* * *

"Ow!" Jeremy's hand flew to his left arm, covering the cut the kunai had made.

"A-Whoa-Wah!" he yelled, frantically jumping around to avoid the plethora of sharp, pointy things. There was another couple of clangs from the array colliding with the fence.

* * *

"Energy Field!" The pink orb was evaded somehow by the block. It spun around a few times, charging for an attack. It fired a blue beam, catching Ulrich by the foot.

"Urgh!" He tried to shake the icy stalagmite with no luck. He quickly grabbed a sword to absorb the block's laser. Odd raced toward the monster on all fours, springing atop it. Seemingly confused, it whirled around in tight circles. It stopped for a second. Odd leaned over.

"Peek-a-boo! Laser Arrow!" Odd jumped off the block and flipped before landing on his feet. The monster exploded.

"All right, guys, get a move on. The tower's coming up soon. And did you say there were... throwing weapons after Jeremy?"

"Yeah. Kind of like knives and throwing stars."

"So he must have possessed what the principal took from us in the office..." Shikamaru was more talking to himself than the others. His eyes opened wide in alarm.

"Aelita! Did you see anything with the throwing weapons that was red and white?"

"Huh? I think I saw a little bit of red in the middle, but I'm really not sure."

"This is bad!"

* * *

There was a loud clash as a kunai struck the fence, just shy of Jeremy. He backed up a step and almost slipped on a previously fallen shuriken. He turned around at the still-floating arms and glanced at the sewer water.

"Ow!" Yet another shuriken slashed him as he made a run for the water, trying desperately to swim to the other side. He gripped the opposite edge with little resistance from X.A.N.A. The metal weapons had stood still as Jeremy got all the way up. Panting, he grasped the ladder's handle. A throwing knife instantly knocked his fingers away, tearing them open.

* * *

Aelita entered the tower. Kiba looked above him.

"Red and white? Wait, you don't mean you had a-!"

"Paper bomb."

* * *

Jeremy winced and tried the ladder again, only to be knocked back down. A pack of kunai came at him slowly. In front of him dropped a slip of paper with Japanese script on it.

"What is..."

* * *

Aelita tipped her head backward, slowly rising to the next plane of the tower. Her foot touched and lit up the aforementioned level.

* * *

Jeremy, ever wary of the weaponry around him, squatted to examine the paper. "Just... paper? That's weird," he said. He ventured to touch it.  
"There's some sort of wiring in here?" Jeremy jumped back as a shuriken plunged into what he was formerly examining. One side lit up white, flames moving across it.

* * *

A slightly blue interface appeared. Aelita put her hand upon it, and her name flashed. The word "Code" appeared on the screen. Aelita entered "Lyoko". The panels around her dropped. "Tower deactivated," she stated.

"Return to the past!" Shikamaru pressed the final button. A beam of white light started in the holosphere.

* * *

The paper bomb exploded, and Jeremy's hands uselessly fled to his neck. A flame barely licked at him before the world was whitewashed.

* * *

Jeremy was back in his dorm. He looked around.

"So, looks like you're okay," Kiba said. He took the blue pack off his leg and hid it under the bed.

* * *

"Is it about time for the tryouts?"

Shikamaru turned to his roommate. "What are you talking about?"

"I thought you said something about the chess team tryouts."

"No..."

"Oh, okay, I guess I must have just imagined it. Weird."

"Guess so." Shikamaru leaned against the wall. _Wait a minute_, he thought, _I used the chess tryouts as an excuse to get to Lyoko, didn't I? And that was...tomorrow! So somehow Lee remembered it?_


	25. Broken Memory

"All right, class, and don't forget to turn in your reports tomorrow. You may leave." Chairs squeaked as the students left the classroom.

"Did you have any homework, Shikamaru?" Jeremy asked as he walked outside.

"Yeah."

"Okay, call me when you're done and we'll work on the program."

"Who said I was going to DO my homework?"

"Um, well, it's a good idea..."

"Nah. We'll just go ahead to the factory now."

"I'll just call Aelita and see if she has any homework."

"Go ahead. I'll meet you in the control room."

"Right."

Aelita was free, and the three were soon together in the control room. They went over the new program, and soon all they had to do was wait for it to finish itself. They kept watch, of course, in case anything might happen.

"So, anything new?" Aelita asked, sitting against the wall near Jeremy's occupied chair.

"Yeah, weirdest thing happened today."

"Really? What?"

"Well, before the RTTP, I told Lee I was going to try out for the chess team so I could get out and come to the factory. And, after the RTTP, we were both in our dorms, and Lee asked if it was about time for the tryouts."

"What? Are you sure?" Jeremy joined in.

"Yeah. I don't know how, but somehow he remembered it from before the RTTP."

"But...That's impossible!"

Aelita shook her head. "I don't know about that. You all came from a different dimension, right? Maybe that has something to do with it. Though we can't really tell since the rest of you have already been in the scanners."

"I guess. But it's still confusing. I don't see how he could be immune to the return trips without being in the scanner."

"Weird." A short beep came from the computer. Jeremy turned back around. "All right, looks like we're done here," he said, getting up from the chair.

"Everything work out okay?"

"Uh-huh. Let's go, then. I promised Kiba I would help him with the science report."

"He needs help?"

"Yeah."

"If you say so. See ya." The three Lyoko warriors made their separate ways to their dorms.

Shikamaru opened his door to see Lee putting up a couple of papers. The genin greeted his roommate.

"Hey," Shikamaru said back. He dumped his stuff on his bed and stopped. He turned around. "Hey, did you... Have a nightmare last night?"

"Huh?! Yes, I did. How did you know?"

"Did it have some dark guy and the village up in flames?"

"It did. How-?"

"All of us had that dream a while ago. All of us from Konoha."

"How strange!"

"Yeah. We think it might have a link to how we ended up here. Can you remember what happened?"

"Yes, I think so!" Lee closed his eyes and began to elaborate his last experience in the Leaf Village.

Shikamaru jumped up. "He made hand signs?! Did you see what they were?!"

"Um, l-let me think..." Shikamaru's cell phone started ringing. "Of all times-Hello? Do you even really need me there? We can talk about that later! Are you sure? Okay, fine, I'll be there." Shikamaru hung up.

"Who was that?"

"Oh, Jeremy. He wants me over at his dorm to help on his, uh, science project."

"Okay, goodbye, then."

"Bye." The door shut a bit louder than Shikamaru intended behind him. He grumbled and made his way to the factory.

* * *

"Transfer, Yumi. Transfer, Aelita. Transfer, Kiba. Scanner, Yumi. Scanner, Aelita. Scanner, Kiba. Virtualization," Jeremy said, the three appearing on Lyoko. Hinata appeared short after. "All right, the tower is dead ahead." The four started off. Still keeping an eye out for warnings of monsters, Jeremy mostly turned to his outside-of-Lyoko companion. "So, any ideas yet?" he asked.

"Yeah, just a theory, though. From what I can tell, the jutsu that sent us here also affects our memory, since none of us could remember how we got here until we had that nightmare."

"Some krabs coming up, guys! Okay, continue, please?"

"So, apparently, Lee had the nightmare last night, well, actually tonight. I still don't know how that jutsu works, but I guarantee it has something to do with this."

"Probably." Jeremy heard someone come up behind him. It was Yumi, apparently devirtualized.

"What are you guys talking about? It doesn't seem like either of you was paying much attention to the computer screen."

"Tower deactivated."

"Oh, I'll tell you about it later. Return to the past now!"

* * *

"So he still remembers from before the return trip?"

"Yeah, at least a little bit. It may have been a one-time deal, but we can't be for sure."

"Weird."

"Yeah, really. Well, I have to get home now. See you guys later."

"Bye." Yumi left the group, leaving Jeremy, Shikamaru, Odd, Ulrich, and Aelita. "Well, I guess I'll go ahead and get back to my dorm," the ninja in the group said.

"Go ahead. I need to go to my room, too." The members of the cluster took their separate ways to their rooms.

"Hey." Shikamaru came into his room. Lee, looking like he was about to leave, was putting up a book. "Where you headed?"

"Oh, the other day, Jim said he wanted to meet me in the gym after I finished my homework."

"Today? As in the 25th?"

"The twenty-fifth? I could have sworn today was the twenty-sixth! Come to think of it, I have had a feeling of deja vu all day today."

"Huh." _So I guess it wasn't a one-time deal. He really can remember from before the RTTP_, Shikamaru thought. "You know what?" the chunin started, "I think I was supposed to meet up with Jeremy right about now."

"Did he still need help on his science project?"

"Yeah, that must have been it."

"Okay, I will see you later, then."

"Bye."

Shikamaru made his way to Jeremy's room and knocked on the door. The blonde opened said door and let Shikamaru into the room.

"What's up?"

"Lee can still remember tomorrow. I think it's pretty much official he's immune to the RTTPs."

"Huh. Well, this is definitely going to make things harder."

"Yeah. Hey, you think..."

"Do I think what?"

"Well, chances are, with him remembering from before the RTTPs, it's going to be close to impossible to keep Lyoko a secret from him."

"Are you suggesting we add _another_ person to the team?"

"One way or another, he's going to end up finding out anyway, so I don't see why not."

"Hmm." After pondering this for a moment, Jeremy decided. "Okay. You're right; we'll go ahead and let him on the team."

Shikamaru walked back to his room and opened the door.

"Hey, Lee. Come here for a sec."

The genin turned his head. "What is it?"

"Jeremy and I are going to show you a secret."

"Okay..." The mattress squeaked as its former occupant stood. Jeremy and Shikamaru were standing in the hallway as Lee closed the door behind him.

"All right, let's go," Jeremy said, turning to the direction of the stairs and leading the group to the forest entry.


	26. Strategy

"All right, here it is," he said, shifting the manhole cover off its hole. Looking like he was wondering why the three were going into the sewers, Lee followed the Lyoko warriors down.

"Close the entry, will you?"

"Yes, sir." With a screech, the metal circle was tugged back into place. The footsteps echoed, undisturbed, through both the lit and fairly unlit sections of the tunnels.

"Looks like we'll have to cross across the fence again."

"You mean you. Lee and I'll just jump across."

"Right. Remind me to get another board."

" 'Kay."

"So what exactly is this all about?"

"Well, there's this place called Lyoko I discovered a while ago..." Jeremy continued as the three walked through the sewers and climbed the ladder. Jeremy and Shikamaru slid down the ropes, Lee following suit. The Lyoko warriors and their new recruit boarded the elevator, whose doors shut and locked as Shikamaru pushed the red button. "...And the scanners are here," Jeremy finished, stepping with the others into the scanner room.

"You are sure, then?" Lee stepped into the scanner.

"Uh-huh. I'll virtualize you now so we can see what you're capable of on Lyoko."

"Right." The elevator's doors closed and locked, and Jeremy and Shikamaru were soon in the control room.

"Transfer, Lee. Scanner, Lee. Virtualization." Lee landed in the mountain sector and looked around. He was wearing a neon dark blue Lyoko outfit with bluegreen shoulder armor. There was a matching blue, solid strap wrapped around the ninja's fingers close to the knuckle on each hand. Spikes were across the top of each strap.

"All right, I'll check out your summary." Jeremy typed a few things. "It looks like you don't have a special ability," said he, "but your weapons are throwable." With a click, one of the weapons easily slipped off Lee's hand. The shinobi effortlessly tossed it straight into the Lyoko sky. The fighting instrument flew up about five meters before descending to be caught.

"Okay, I'll send you a training dummy." Jeremy typed a bit of coding, then pressing enter. A block appeared in front of Lee.

"This one won't hit you back like X.A.N.A.'s will," Jeremy informed, "but you can still get a little practice from it."

"Yes, sir." The block whirred and spun around harmlessly, waiting to be a target. Its purpose was soon come upon when Lee invisibly dashed forward and struck the Eye of X.A.N.A. The block whirled around once more, quicker than before, and exploded.

"Good, I'll bring-"

"Jeremy, something else is here!"

Jeremy leaned forward and grabbed his earpiece. "Get out of there, now!"

The scyphozoa was headed toward Lee.

"What are you waiting for? Get out of there!"

Lee was just standing still. The scyphozoa was close.

"What are you doing?!" Jeremy yelled. Still no response. "Lee!"

"Jeremy, hurry and virtualize me! I'll be in the scanners!"

"Right!" Shikamaru ran down to the scanner room.

"Transfer, Shikamaru! Scanner, Shikamaru! Virtualization!"

By now, the scyphozoa had Lee wrapped up. The monster was in its customary attack pose, with two translucent appendages at the victim's temples and one centered in the forehead, each sucking out information.

"Shadow Possession!" The pink patches in the scyphozoa's tentacles froze. "Lee! Can you hear me?" Lee was still suspended in the jellyfish-like monster's clutches. The new Lyoko warrior gave no response and still did not move. "Jeremy, what's wrong with him?"

Jeremy clicked up a few windows. "It's just as I thought. X.A.N.A.'s given him a virus of some sort."

"What'll happen if I let go? What'll that monster do to him?"

"The scyphozoa steals memory. It can also X.A.N.A-fy us on Lyoko. Most of the time we get the one that's captured free in time before the scyphozoa can do much harm."

"So in other words, I can't let go?"

"No. I'll try and hurry with the antivirus."

"All right." _If I try to throw that monster over the edge with my Shadow Possession, Lee will go, too_, Shikamaru thought. _If I let go, Lee's pretty much done for. I don't have any kind of weapon to get the scyphozoa to let go of him._

"What? A double-" Jeremy sighed. "This is going to take a while, Shikamaru, and I won't be able to virtualize anyone with this system X.A.N.A. has put in. I don't know how long you'll be able to keep up your Shadow Possession on Lyoko, but you'll have to try and sustain it for as long as possible, all right?"

"Thought so." _Come on, Shikamaru, there has to be another possibility_, the chunin said to himself. He closed his eyes and put his fingertips together in an upside-down triangle. In just a moment, he reopened them. The boy stood up and walked closer to the scyphozoa. It floated toward him.

"Jeremy! Can you virtualize the Overboard?"

"Um, yeah, I should be able to."

"Virtualize it."

"You got it." The purple Lyoko vehicle appeared, bobbing as if atop water. Experimentally Shikamaru boarded it. Some of the scyphozoa's extremities lifted, but it didn't move up.

"Perfect." Odd's vehicle floated up, and Shikamaru was soon on the same level as Lee. The chunin reached his hand over toward the other ninja a bit. "Release!"

"Shikamaru, what-" The shadows split, and Shikamaru grabbed Lee's weapon, giving the scyphozoa a good stab in the Eye of X.A.N.A. It recoiled, dropping Lee and starting to float away.

"Great job, Shikamaru. Just keep watch in case anything else shows up."

* * *

A while later, Lee had finally been de-bugged and was back on Earth. The three Lyoko warriors met in the scanner room.

"What happened?"

"You were attacked by the scyphozoa, that jellyfish-looking thing, and X.A.N.A. infected you with a virus, so Jeremy had to take care of that before you could come back. You're okay now, right?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Well, a little bit of a rocky start, but you'll be fine. Welcome to the team."


	27. Untangling

**A/N**: This chapter was awkward for me to write for some odd reason... Hope you like. o.o

"So, Lee," Shikamaru said when they were back in their dorm, "could you remember what the hand signs this guy made were?"

"I was still trying to remember; I will think again." Lee exhaled and closed his eyes. "Okay... The first was... like this," he said, clasping his hands together in the Tatsu, or Dragon, sign. "And... the second..." Lee started to form another hand sign.

"Agh!" The genin's right hand involuntarily snatched to his head, which felt like it was going to implode. The image on which Lee was focusing blackened and disappeared in his mind.

"Lee, you okay?"

"Y-yes. Sorry, I-" Lee let his hand fall back to his side.

"That's okay. Can you remember anything else besides that first hand sign?"

"...No. When I tried to focus, I just-Everything just disappeared, and I could not remember a thing."

Shikamaru sighed. "Well, we at least know the first hand sign he used for this jutsu. I don't remember anything because I never saw him. Hinata didn't see him, either, considering he must have attacked while she was asleep. I'll go ahead and see if Kiba knows anything."

"All right. In the meantime, I will try to remember again."

"Don't push it. I'll be back." The door creaked a little as it shut.

* * *

"So you're sure you have no idea what the hand signs were?"

"No. No clue. He was behind me when I got hit, so I don't know. Oh! But Akamaru may have seen!" Kiba opened the door to his room and stepped inside. Jeremy was gone for one reason or another. Akamaru popped out from behind the bed and yipped. Kiba squatted down and pet the dog.

"Hey, Akamaru. Do you remember anything from when we were attacked by that gray-haired guy?" The white dog barked a couple of times. "Uh-huh. Did you see what hand signs he made?" After Akamaru's response, Kiba said, "Okay, great."

He turned to Shikamaru. "The third hand sign he made was the Ox."

"Were there just three hand signs?"

"Aroo."

"No, there were four. Or at least Akamaru thinks he saw four before the guy hit me."

"Was the first hand sign he saw the Dragon sign?" Akamaru barked a response.

"Yeah, it was."

"All right, so we know that there are four hand signs to his jutsu. The first is Dragon and the third is Ox."

"Could you see any of the others, Akamaru?" The dog gave a negative response.

"I guess we'll have to figure out why something happens to Lee when he tries to remember the other hand signs. If we can crack that, we should be able to know all of them. Then we just have to try the jutsu and see if we can get home through it," Shikamaru finished

"I guess so. Tell me whenever you find something out."

"Right."

* * *

Tsunade shook her head. "No, Guy, nothing has come up."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, for the hundredth time, I'm sure! Once I get any information, I'll tell you, okay? But I don't have any. So stop asking!"

"Can't you at least put me on the case?"

"No!" Tsunade rubbed her forehead. "We've been low on forces since the war; you know that! We can't spare any more shinobi than necessary, all right? I've already sent a squad to search for our culprit. We got a pretty accurate description of him from TenTen, so we should be able to track him down. So just wait and we'll see what happens, okay?"

Guy sighed. "O-Okay."

"Now, for the reason I called you here."

"And you're sure that's all you saw?"

"Mmm-hmm. Just Ox and Ram. Since I only came right before the fact, I could only make out those two."

"And you're sure you didn't see anything before that?"

"Yes."

"All right. You can go."

TenTen got up from the chair. "Thanks," she said halfheartedly, walking out of the building. She stopped at the grassy area where she had seen the last of Lee. _If only I had been there sooner!_ She kicked a rock._ I know I could have stopped it..._

* * *

"What?!"

"There's no sign of him. I've checked everywhere."

Tsunade stood up. "This is ridiculous!" she exclaimed. "This is the sixth genin gone missing! I don't suppose you caught the attacker?"

"No, ma'am."

Tsunade sighed and sat back down. "We've lost Hyuga Hinata, Hyuga Neji, Inuzuka Kiba, Rock Lee, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino, as well as an astounding number of village guards. And now Akimichi Choji's gone missing, too?"

"Yes."

"This is unbelievable! There have been so many kidnappings, and whoever this guy is, he's gone without a trace! This is really serious."

"Lady Hokage?" Someone knocked on the door.

"Who is it, Kotetsu?"

"It's Sarutobi Asuma, back from his mission."

"Let him in. You may go, Kitaku. Thanks for the update." The jonin nodded and exited the room. He held open the door for Asuma. "I assume everything went well on your mission, Asuma?"

"Yeah. Now what's this I hear of Ino and Choji missing?"

"We have reason to believe it was the same attacker who kidnapped Shikamaru."

"And we still haven't located him?"

"No. We know what he looks like thanks to TenTen, but the squad I sent to track down the kidnapper hasn't returned."

"How did you know where to send them?"

"We can only assume this guy, whoever he is, works for Orochimaru, being that he was seen with a Sound headband."

"Orochimaru?"

"Yes. We've yet to find Orochimaru or the ninja working for him, but we're trying as hard as we can with the limited sources we have left."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Not right now. All you can do is carry out missions when they're assigned to you."

"Right."


	28. Tears and Laughter

**A/N**: Hmph. I was actually hoping to keep Naruto out of the story altogether, since he wasn't really involved, but it didn't seem to make much sense upon further thought... So here he is. *shrug* Comment if you like!

"All right, here goes, then," Shiraga said, stowing away Uzumaki Naruto's information card in the Sound ninja's usual hiding place. "He should be here in a moment..." the grey-haired ninja mumbled. Soon enough, the orange-clad ninja came clomping through the area. _I hear this one is tricky_, Shiraga thought. _It would be much easier to use my non-directional jutsu. But my orders were to send him to Kadic. The arrangements have been made, so I am to direct his interdimensional travel._ Shiraga made the Dragon sign, then the Snake sign, then Ox, then Ram. His hand began to gleam faintly, undetectable from his hiding place in the daylight. He charged forward from the brush, and he headed straight toward the boy.

"Yah!" A punch caught the servant of Orochimaru off-guard. He landed back-of-the-head-first on the ground. "You think I couldn't see you coming?" Naruto growled. Shiraga backflipped to his feet. He said nothing, only swiftly throwing a few shuriken in the direction of the other ninja. They hit their target, which went up in a puff of smoke.

"A clone?" Shiraga, hearing footsteps crunch behind him, whipped around. "Uh!" He stuck his hand out in time to catch the genin's punch. Naruto backed up a little.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A copy appeared. One of the Narutos held out his hand. The other started to pinch the air around said hand repeatedly until a blue, swirling orb appeared. Naruto swung back his arm and dashed toward Shiraga. "Rasengan!" the Leaf ninja yelled, pushing his arm forward and making the mass of chakra connect with the Sound ninja's stomach. Shiraga's loose clothing swirled around then tore. He let out a yell as he spiraled backward a distance. Some dry grass on which he skidded was uprooted, leaving a trail of dirt to Shiraga's location. He gave a shuddering cough and sat up, instinctively grasping his wound. There was a trickle of blood dripping from his mouth. Shiraga wiped it away and tried to get up. His legs failed to comply, and Naruto was coming back at him.

"Forgive me, Lord Orochimaru," the Sound ninja said. "I'll have to do it another time." He coughed and remade the four hand signs behind his back. His hand met his chest, and Shiraga faded to black and disappeared.

"What?! Hey, where'd he-?!" Naruto frantically looked around. His opponent was nowhere to be seen. "Darn it!"

* * *

"So you're sure you can't remember anything else?" Shikamaru asked his roommate.

"No, nothing," Lee said sadly.

"Listen, we'll figure something out. We'll get home. Don't worry about it."

"Yes, I know, it is just...Tomorrow." Lee looked up at the November calendar in the room.

"What about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow is my birthday. And..." Tears made their way down the genin's cheeks. "I will not even get to see Guy-Sensei, or Sakura, or TenTen, or-" No more words came, only tears.

"Hey, hey, it's- it's all right; you don't need to cry about it-"

"No! It is not all right, and you know it! We may never get back! I may never see Guy-Sensei or Sakura again! Nothing is all right about it!"

"Okay, okay, just... Just relax, okay? We're going to get back home sometime. Between us trying to get there and them trying to get here, someone's bound to break through." He looked up at Lee and smiled. "Listen. We're gonna get back. Don't worry about it, okay? You'll be able to see all of them again, I guarantee."

Lee's hand swept across his face to rid the tears. "You are right. I should not be so pessimistic about it." His expression lightened, and he curled his hand into a fist. "We will get back! I know it!"

* * *

"Transfer, Aelita. Transfer, Odd. Transfer, Lee. Scanner, Aelita. Scanner, Odd. Scanner, Lee. Virtualization." The three touched down in the desert sector. "All right, guys, the tower's east of you. And the situation's pretty bad back there, so you three are going to be the only ones on Lyoko."

"Got it, Jeremy."

Odd complained, "I just wish X.A.N.A. didn't attack so early. I mean, what is it, like, five in the morning?" The three started toward their destination.

"Look out guys! Three blo-"

Aelita asked, "What? Jeremy, are you okay?"

"Um, yeah. The blocks just disappeared from the screen."

"Yes, I took care of them."

Aelita and Odd turned to face the speaker. "What? You're kidding; you couldn't have taken them out that quickly!"

"No, I did." The three started back on-course.

"I mean, I know you're fast, but..."

"Well, remember that Lyoko boosts your natural abilities, so he's faster than usual here."

"Yeah, I know, Einstein."

"Huh. But the thing is, he wasn't visible on the screen when he went forward and attacked."

"Really? You mean he's faster than the computer?"

"Yeah, I think so. I'm still not sure how it's possible, but then again, I don't know how it was possible that he remembered return trips without being in the scanners, either. Some hornets coming up on your left!"

Odd whipped around. "Laser Ar-" He stopped in the middle of his attack. "Hey! Leave some for the rest of us!"

"Oh, um, sorry. I just thought-"

"Okay, guys, that's enough! You need to get to the tower; like I said, it's really bad back there!"

"Right." The three got to the tower with, at least for Aelita and Odd, no interruptions. The pink-haired Lyoko warrior stepped into the tower, digital ripples spreading through it.

"So what do I do now, Jeremy?"

"Oh, this is your first mission on Lyoko, isn't it? Well, you just have to wait for Aelita to deactivate the tower, then I'll launch a return to the past, and we'll all be back to yesterday."

"Okay, got it."

"Tower deactivated."

"Return to the past!" The white beam emnated from the holosphere and expanded outward, covering everything in sight.

* * *

"So, November 26th again." Lee checked the clock, which read 5:30. _An hour late for my morning training!_ he thought._ I had better get started._ He exited his room and closed the door quietly behind him.

"What are you doing up so early?"

"Huh?" Lee turned his head to the right to see Jim.

"I was just going out for a training session."

"You do know the gym's not open until 6:30."

"Yes, sir; I was not going to the gym."

"Okay, if you say so."

Lee walked out of the dorm building toward the forest.

* * *

The Lyoko crew, save for Lee, was assembled at the school crossroads. "And you're sure he's going to be out of the room right after school tomorrow?"

"Positive."

"Great. How much time do you think we'll have?"

"Probably about fifteen minutes."

"Okay, we should be set up by then. Who was making the cake?"

"Me."

"All right, Yumi. Is it ready?"

"Yeah, I'll stop by the house on my free hour this afternoon to pick it up."

"Okay, great. Uh, what else..." Jeremy paused to remember the other party items.

"Confetti?" It was Ulrich who responded.

"I've got the package on the desk in my dorm. I'll try and remember to pick it up."

"Okay, great. Who was in charge of the balloons and streamers?"

"That's me. I have them; the balloons need to be blown up, though."

"That's okay, Aelita, we could probably handle it in fifteen minutes. You said fifteen, right, Shikamaru?"

"Yeah."

"All right, was there anything else?" Jeremy looked around for any responses. "Okay, everyone, be sure to meet in Lee's and Shikamaru's room after school."

"Right."

"Mmm-hmm."

"Whoo-hoo! Party time!" Ulrich rolled his eyes at Odd's comment and made his way to his first class.

* * *

"He's coming into the building!" Hinata exclaimed.

"Ack! Hurry up, he'll be here any second!"

"Don't rush me; this is an art!"

"You're hanging streamers, Odd! Forget it; toss it over, hurry!" Odd passed the yellow roll of streamers to his roommate, who tore it, taped up the last section, and shoved the remainder into a drawer. Aelita hurriedly tied off the last balloon, and Kiba batted it to the top of Lee's bed.

"Ssh! He's coming!" The eight Lyoko warriors poised around the edges of Shikamaru's and Lee's room as Yumi flicked off the light switch. Footsteps lightly thumped across the hallway and stopped at the room in which the Lyoko crew was now. Aelita, Jeremy, Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, Kiba, Hinata, and Shikamaru looked in anticipation as the doorknob turned. The door shifted and opened.

"Surprise!" The light was turned on, and the eight jumped out to the center of the room. Lee jumped back a little, obviously not expecting a surprise party.

"Happy birthday!"

* * *

"And you just let him get away?!"

"Hey! It wasn't my fault, Grandma Tsunade!" He stopped, then continued. "He just put his hands behind his back, put one on his chest, and disappeared."

"This explains how he's been able to make this many kidnappings without a trace, at least. But how are we going to hunt someone down if they can just wave a hand and teleport to another dimension?" The Hokage sighed. "This is going to be tough."

* * *

"C'mon, c'mon, open mine!"

"No, open mine first!"

"Okay, okay!" Lee chuckled and decided to open the present from Odd first. The blonde stuck his tongue out at his first-gift-opening competitor, Kiba. Lee strippd the tape off the badly-wrapped parcel and practically shredded the red wrapping paper until the gift was revealed.

"So, do you like it?"

"Um..." The birthday present from Odd in Lee's hands was a plastic, orange headband with two springs and pom-poms on the end of them. Lee tapped an antennae, which proceeded to bounce back and forth rapidly. The Lyoko crew laughed.

* * *

"What...? What...What happened?" The blonde girl leaned forward, sitting up. She looked around. She was at the edge of a meadow with a stream running through it. The water was very clear, and pebbles could be seen underneath the surface. "What's going on? It's not... a genjutsu, is it?" She folded her fingers together. "Release!" When the kunoichi reopened her eyes, nothing was different. "It's not working! What... happened, though?...I can't remember anything..." She stood up.

"H-Hey! Ino?"

She turned to the direction where she heard her name called. "Huh? Choji?"

The brown-haired ninja walked over to his teammate.

"What's going on?" Ino asked him.

"I don't know," he responded. "I just showed up here a minute ago. I wandered around and saw you, and..."

"I can't remember how I got here." She paused. "I guess you don't either?"

"No, no idea."

Ino sighed, a bit excessively. "Well, I guess we'll have to figure out something," she said, holding up her arms in a sort of shrugging position.

"Yeah, I guess so."


	29. On and Off

**A/N:** Remember, the ninjas have, like, no experience with cell phones... So don't call them idiots for it. .'' And I think this plot may have kind of happened before in the real series, but I totally forgot if it did. Apologies in advance, and comment if you like.

The students filed into class orderly, excluding the few paper airplanes whizzing around the room and someone launching spitballs at the chalkboard.

"All right, class, settle down!" called the teacher. The bell rang, and the announcements proceeded. After halfheartedly listening to today's lunch and tryouts for a few teams, the class got a bit rowdy. Soon a non-typical bulletin was heard.

"Several days ago, a young man was enrolled and has failed to come into the school. If anybody knows someone by the name of Naruto Uzumaki, please contact the principal." Kiba and Hinata immediately turned their heads to each other. "That concludes the morning announcements." There was a click on the intercom.

"N-Naruto is supposed to be here?" Hinata responded.

"Yeah, I guess so. But it sounds like he never showed up."

"Do you think he's okay?"

"I'm sure he's fine." _There's no telling what happened_, Kiba thought, _but I don't want Hinata to freak out about it_.

"Right."

"All right, class, get out last night's homework..."

* * *

The final bell rang, and most of the students rushed out of the classroom, though some took their time.

"Kiba?" Hinata started.

"What's up?"

"You and Shikamaru found Lee in the forest, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, maybe Naruto is there, too..."

"Good idea. I don't have any homework if you want to go check and see now."

"Oh, I have science homework, though."

" 'Kay. You can go ahead and check when you want to, then. See ya!"

"Bye, Kiba!"

The boy was gone in an instant.

* * *

A tarantula turned its head as the tower behind it was activated. The now-red fog was quite a bit of a contrast from the rest of the forest sector.

* * *

After a short goodbye to Aelita, Hinata exited the room and closed the door softly behind her. Her feet quickly patted down the stairway to the ground floor, where she ducked into the cold sunlight. The genin soon passed the administration building and library, and she was in the park.

"Naruto might be here somewhere... I have to find him!" Hinata checked to see if anyone was looking, then made a few hand signs. _Byakugan!_ she thought as her kekkei genkai kicked in. The coloring of the forest changed to her, and she focused, looking through every tree and checking every bit of grass for signs of life. There were no figures to be seen, or human figures at any rate. _I can't see anyone, but I'll go ahead and check_, anyway, the girl thought, relaxing her eyes and taking her first step into the trees. Unbeknownst to her, the purple cell phone in her pocket surged with electricity for a moment, though it died down the next.

* * *

"Yeah, there's an activated tower in the-Huh?"

"What's wrong, Jeremy?"

"The tower just deactivated itself. This can't be right!"

"Do you want to send me to Lyoko to see if I can sense any pulsations?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea, Aelita. I'll go ahead and bring Kiba, too, just in case."

"Okay, I'll meet you at the factory." Jeremy hung up.

"Sounds like I'm going to the factory."

"Yeah, we're going to send Aelita to see if she can pick up any pulsations. Either the Super Scanner is on the fritz, or-Well, something's definitely wrong."

"All right, let's get to the factory, then."

"Right."

* * *

"Transfer, Aelita. Transfer, Kiba. Scanner, Aelita. Scanner, Kiba. Virtualization." A grid of Aelita's and Kiba's virtual forms appeared and was colored over. The two warriors fell to the ground. "I'll send you the coordinates of the last activated tower."

"Right." Kiba and Aelita were soon on their way to the mysteriously deactivated tower. The two arrived to see the tower surrounded in white fog.

"I feel pulsations," Aelita said, "but they're not coming from this tower."

"Yeah, another tower just activated on this same sector."

* * *

Shikamaru lazily punched in a key on his computer. _Why do I have to do a report? Man, this is such a drag_, he thought, blankly staring at the screen with but a few characters on it. A spark across his cell phone on the desk caught his eye, and he looked at it for a second. He touched it quickly and jerked his hand back up. There was no shock. The chunin held down the button on the phone to turn it on, but it stayed off.

"Guess it needs to be charged or something," he mumbled before putting the cell phone back down and turning back to the computer monitor.

* * *

"Yep, it's been deactivated again."

"What's going on? No one's called you or anything, right?"

"No, nothing-Another tower's been activated! This time in the desert sector!"

"Should we really go check? It seems like a wild goose chase to me."

"You never know; X.A.N.A. could be planning an attack at the end of these short takeovers, so it's better to play it safe and go after them."

"All right, if you say so."

* * *

"This is ridiculous!" Aelita shouted as she turned to look for the seventh activated tower.

"Now I'm really starting to get suspicious. X.A.N.A. must be up to something," Jeremy said, typing so that a window appeared on the screen. He dialed Shikamaru's number. There was no ringing on the other end. "Huh? That's weird..."

"Jeremy! This one's been deactivated, too!"

Jeremy checked the rest of the screen quickly. "Nothing's come up yet," he said, refocusing on the dialing window. "Shikamaru's phone isn't working. I'll try calling Lee since he's his roommate." Jeremy punched in the numbers, but the phone didn't pick up. "Okay, something's up. Let me try my phone..." It wouldn't turn on. "That must be it!" he exclaimed. "X.A.N.A.'s been messing with our cell phones the entire time!" He slid open the back of his cell phone. "All of the circuits are melted! This thing won't work at all!"

"Jeremy! I can feel some pulsations!"

Jeremy checked the computer screen. "Yup, another one's been activated," he said. He mumbled to himself for a second. "Then there are only seven cell phones outside of Lyoko! Hurry, guys, this one's a real attack!"

"Right!" Jeremy subconsciously brought up the calling window. He shook his head and closed it. _A lot of good that's going to do me_, he thought. "Do you think you guys will be able to handle the attack yourselves?"

"Yeah. Anything X.A.N.A. can dish out, I can take!"

"We'll be fine, Jeremy. You're not planning on leaving the controls, are you?"

"Not if you guys don't need backup."


	30. Asphalt Faults

**A/N: **Once again, please ignore any inaccuracies that may have risen from my lack of updated Lyoko knowledge. Enjoy, and comment if you like!

Hinata opened the door to her room and entered.

"Huh? Aelita's not here? She said we would start our history project at four." The girl eyed the clock. It was 4:05. "I guess she's running a little late..." Hinata got out a paper and looked over the print. "I won't be able to start without her... Maybe I should go ahead and tell Kiba that Naruto wasn't there. Yes, that will work." She closed the door quietly and stepped down the stairs to the boys' dorms.

After walking to the furthermost door, she knocked. There was no response, and after a few seconds, Hinata knocked again. "Hello?" she said, opening the door, which was slightly ajar to begin with. No one was there. "That's strange..."

She immediately walked across the hall and knocked on the door there. Odd opened it.

"What's up?" he yelled over the music blaring through his and Ulrich's room.

"There wasn't a X.A.N.A. attack, was there?" Hinata asked, stepping into the room.

"What? I can't hear you!"

She rose her voice a bit. "There wasn't a X.A.N.A. attack, was there?"

"No, I don't think so. Why?"

"Aelita wasn't in our room, and Jeremy was gone, too, so..." She looked around. "Where's Ulrich?"

"He was meeting Yumi at her house for something." Odd walked over to the source of the music and turned it off, the result being a decrease of who-knows-how-many decibels.

* * *

"Watch out!"

"Uh!" Kiba narrowly avoided a blast from a tarantula. "Careful! One more hit and you're off of Lyoko!" Jeremy reminded.

"Yeah, you don't need to tell me twice!" Kiba and Aelita were just meters away from the tower, but two tarantulas were fiercely guarding the building. One shot two lasers on either side of Aelita. After absorbing a laser shot into his arm blade, Kiba rushed forward at one of the tarantulas.

"Hah!" He jumped up and sliced the Eye of X.A.N.A. down the middle, leaving the tarantula to explode in seconds. "One down, one to go!"

* * *

"Hey, what's up?" Yumi said, opening the door to her house for the two Lyoko warriors. Hinata and Odd stepped inside, and the black-haired girl closed the door behind them.

"What's going on?" Ulrich joined the lineup.

"We were making sure you were okay. For some reason, neither of our cell phones were working..."

"Cell phones?" Ulrich's cell phone came out of his pocket, and he tried to turn it on. "Mine's not working, either!"

After a trial, Yumi responded, "And neither is mine. It must be an attack. My parents went off on an errand, so I'll be free for now. Let's go!"

* * *

"No! Kiba!" Kiba's virtual form unraveled, flickered, and disappeared. He was back in the scanner room, and Aelita was by herself on Lyoko. Facing a tarantula with no damage done to it. Kiba rode the elevator to the control room and stopped behind Jeremy.

"Hang on, Aelita!" Jeremy directed the next statement to Kiba. "Hurry, get your cell phone and call for backup!"

"Right!" Kiba took his red cell phone from his back pouch and held down the on button. "Aw, no!"

"What's wrong?"

"It was low on battery last time I checked; it must have run out!"

"Ugh! All right, Kiba, just go ahead and get them, okay?"

"Right! I'll be back!" Kiba left via elevator, and Jeremy turned back to the computer screen.

"How are you holding up, Aelita?"

"I'll be fine for now, and I'll keep trying to get rid of the tarantula!"

"Okay, good." Jeremy checked to the left and right to make sure X.A.N.A. wasn't after him. He anxiously watched the screen and hoped like crazy that the others would get here soon.

* * *

The four Lyoko warriors ran through the street.

"Hurry, guys! We don't know how long the tower's been activated!"

"You don't say!"

"Enough with the sarcasm!"

"Fine, sorry."

A sudden rumble in the ground literally brought the group to their knees.

"What the?"

The road split in a wide crack.

* * *

"There you are, buddy," Kiba said, coming out of the manhole in the forest and seeing Akamaru. "Anything happen?" Akamaru gave a short arf. "Huh? They already came through here?" The white dog yipped. "So they already know something's up. Good."

* * *

A car screeched and stopped, swerving to the side to avoid the living part of the street. The road was swaying a little now, and it was impossible for the four members of the Lyoko crew to keep their balance long enough to escape. The swaying turned to shaking, and the road split a few more times.

* * *

"Oh, no!" Jeremy yelled as Aelita was struck by an incoming hornet. "Aelita, hang on! One more hit and you're done for!"

Aelita looked around at the two monsters before her. The tarantula held its "arms" up and charged for a couple of lasers. The lone hornet tipped its tail back and did the same. They both fired at Aelita, but she ducked out of the way. Before the monsters had the chance to fully charge for another attack, Aelita closed her eyes and used her Creativity. A wall flickered and appeared, cutting her off from the minions of X.A.N.A. Two lasers smacked into the wall, but Aelita was safe for now.

"Come on, hurry up, guys!" Jeremy said to himself. Another laser bounded to the barrier, and Aelita flinched.

* * *

The street gave another great rumble and began to take shape. Sections of asphalt rose and stacked, creating some sort of four-legged form. It lurched forward and snapped at Odd.

* * *

Another beam crashed against the wall, which snapped and disappeared.

"Aelita!" Jeremy instinctively stood up. He checked all around him, but there was no backup in sight. He gulped. _I guess I have to_, he thought with a shudder. He typed in a self-virtualization sequence, notified Aelita, and hurried to the scanners.

* * *

Kiba knocked on the door.

"Hey, Kiba," Shikamaru said, letting his friend in.

"Hello, Kiba."

"I'm not sure if you guys are needed, but there's been a X.A.N.A. attack."

"What? If there were an attack, Jeremy surely would have notified us!"

"Yeah, well, the first attacks disabled everyone's cell phones."

Shikamaru eyed his cell phone on the table. He sighed. "That must've been it. I thought I saw some electricity going through my phone, but since it didn't shock me, I just figured it was supposed to do that."

"Well, then, what are we waiting for? Let us go to the factory!"

"Right!" The three dashed out of the dorm.

* * *

"Watch out!" Ulrich pushed Yumi out of the way as the asphalt monster rushed at her.

"Ulrich!" One of the legs smashed against the brunette's arm, and he could not stop himself from letting out a yell of pain. Hinata threw a shuriken at the hulking creature, but the weapon merely bounced off, causing no harm. The monster rushed at the kunoichi, but she was ready.

"Protective Eight Trigrams, 64 Palms!" Her arms rushed around her rapidly, and the part of the creature that dared to touch her crumbled. It let out a screech and recoiled. Hinata stopped for a moment and turned her head to the rest of the group.

"You guys go ahead! I'll take care of him!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, hurry!" The other three Lyoko warriors scurried off toward the factory.


	31. Communication Failure

**A/N: **lol, I guess no one likes this anymore, since I keep asking you to comment if you like and I get no comments... Oh, well. Keep reading and I will keep posting. :/

Lee climbed out of the manhole, Shikamaru and Kiba following him. The three dashed into the building, ignored the ropes and jumped down instead, and rode the elevator to the control room. The room was empty save for a glowing computer screen and the holosphere. Shikamaru sat down in the controls. "What's going on?" he questioned, giving the computer screen a good once-over a few times. "No one's showing up on the radar!"

"What? No monsters or anything?"

"No, nothing!"

"Does this mean Aelita's been devirtualized?"

"I guess so." Shikamaru looked over the computer again, puzzled. He heard a whirring behind him and turned around.

Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd stepped out of the elevator. Ulrich was gripping tightly his left arm, which was bleeding.

"Are you okay?" Lee asked, alarmed.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ulrich said, gritting his teeth. "Where's Jeremy?"

"I don't know. No one is showing up on the radar, no Aelita, no monsters, no anything."

"Is there still a tower activated?"

"Yeah, there's one in the forest sector."

"Go ahead and virtualize us, then. We'll see if we can find Aelita. And you have no idea what happened to Jeremy?"

"I was here a minute ago, and he was fine. I guess X.A.N.A. must have attacked him."

"No, X.A.N.A.'s attack was back in the street!"

"Well, it's definitely not like Jeremy to just desert the computer..."

"Get to the scanners, everyone."

Lee, Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd stepped into the elevator.

"Aren't you going, Kiba?"

"No, I was devirtualized earlier."

"Right." Shikamaru turned back to the computer, and the elevator closed around the four Lyoko warriors ready for virtualization. "Transfer, Yumi. Transfer, Ulrich. Transfer, Lee. Scanner, Yumi. Scanner, Ulrich. Scanner, Lee. Virtualization. Transfer, Odd. Scanner, Odd. Virtualization." Shikamaru paused. "So you said you were devirtualized?"

"Yeah."

"Was Hinata there?"

"No, it was just me and Aelita on Lyoko, and Jeremy at the controls."

"Maybe Jeremy virtualized himself."

"I don't know. Maybe Aelita just got devirtualized, and..."

* * *

Hinata panted. About half of the monster had crumbled to bits now, and the remains were rearranging itself once again into a four-legged structure._ All right_, the girl thought, _I'll still have enough chakra left to defeat him if everything goes right_. The monster lurched at her again.

"Protective Eight Trigrams, 64 Palms!"

* * *

"Some hornets coming up on your left!"

"Laser Arrow!" Three remained. Yumi threw both of her fans, but the hornets dodged and shot a laser at her. She backflipped to avoid it and caught her fans on the rebound.

"Supersprint!" Ulrich rushed forward quickly and jumped, slicing the last hornet in two before it knew what was happening. "Wait... What happened to the other two?" Ulrich asked, confused.

Odd snickered and led the group forward.

"What? What's so funny?!"

* * *

The street creature was a few inches shorter than Hinata now. The kunoichi was breathing heavily, ever in her battle stance.

* * *

"All right, the tower's just ahead of you."

"Good. Maybe Aelita's there." The four Lyoko warriors started forward, but stopped in a few paces.

"Is that-?"

"I think so!"

"What is going on? I have never seen that monster before."

"It's a guardian."

"A guardian? I never read anything about a guardian before. Did Jeremy just leave them out of the notes?"

"How am I supposed to know? I never read that stuff," Odd replied.

"What he means is yeah, he probably did," Ulrich responded drily.

"So how do you defeat it? I do not see an Eye of X.A.N.A. anywhere."

"We have to make a copy of Aelita," Yumi answered. "The guardian will take it and let the real Aelita go."

"Okay," Shikamaru replied, "I'll see what I can do."

* * *

The small creature reared up on two legs and swiped at Hinata's arm. She snatched it out of the way, but the monster attacked again and hit her other arm. Hinata fell on the pavement and sat up. _It's no good_, she thought. _I've used up too much chakra!_"All right, I think I've got it. Let's see what happens." Shikamaru pressed enter, and a copy of Aelita appeared near the guardian. The glowing yellow monster warbled, engulfed the copy, and spat out the real Aelita.

* * *

A few moments later, Aelita opened her eyes. "What?" She looked around. "Where'd Jeremy go?"

"What? Jeremy?"

Aelita stood. "Uh-huh. I was alone facing a tarantula and a hornet, and I almost ran out of life points. In the end, Jeremy virtualized himself, and..."

"Did he get devirtualized?"

"I don't think so."

"What happened to him?"

"He..." Aelita tried to remember. "The guardian got him, too!"

"What? Since when can the guardian contain two people?"

"I don't know, but it did!"

"Okay, I guess I'll have to make a copy of Jeremy, too?"

"Uh-huh."

"I'm on it."

* * *

"Uh!" Hinata grunted, kicking the monster away from her. By now, her arm was bleeding pretty badly.

* * *

The golden blob spat Jeremy out. The not-typically-on-Lyoko boy sat up. "Hey, guys," he mumbled.

"Nice to see you in one piece." Aelita helped her friend up.

"So, are we planning on deactivating the tower anytime soon?" Odd prodded.

"Right." The pink-haired girl walked over to the tower and stepped inside, where she floated to the top level. Her right foot touched the edge of the floor, which lit up. Aelita made her way to the center. A blue interface appeared, on which the girl placed her hand. Her name flashed, and she typed in the required code.

"Tower deactivated."

* * *

Hinata crossed her arms to protect her face as the creature rushed toward her again. It froze all of a sudden and collapsed into a pile of grey mush.

* * *

"How bad were things back there?"

"There was a huge monster that X.A.N.A. made from the street. Hinata said she could take it, but we really can't know for sure," Yumi said.

"I don't know, it really seemed like she could handle it. I mean, she did that one thing," Odd said vaguely, "and half of the thing's leg crumbled, so..."

"What? What 'one thing'?"

"Um, what did she say? Protect something..."

"Do you mean Protective Eight Trigrams, 64 Palms?"

"Yeah, I think that was it."

"Don't worry, guys, she's definitely all right. If you want me to go ahead and check..."

"All right, go ahead, Kiba." The genin ran out of the room.

"You can go ahead and devirtualize us, Shikamaru."

" 'Kay." The black-haired chunin typed a sequence. Thirty seconds later, Yumi, Odd, and Lee were back in the scanners. Shortly afterward, Jeremy, Ulrich, and Aelita followed them.

"Don't worry, she's all right!" came a yell from what sounded like a distance away.

"Okay, good. We don't want to launch a return trip if we don't have to," Jeremy sighed.

"What are we going to do about our cell phones, though?"

"Well, Lee's we just got two days ago, so it's warranty is still up. I'm pretty sure Hinata's and Shikamaru's warranties are still there."

"Yeah, well, what about our phones?"

Jeremy slid open the back of his phone again. He shook his head in exasperation. "With this, we might have to get entirely new cell phones."

"And how exactly are we planning to explain this to our parents?"

Jeremy sighed. "I don't know."

Shikamaru, out of the chair now, turned to face Jeremy. "Y'know, if you want to launch an RTTP, there's still time to."

Kiba and Hinata arrived in the room. The kunoichi was gripping her arm, which was still bleeding a little through her sleeve. Ulrich checked his arm, but it had scabbed over, leaving only a few bad bruises.

"So... What do you want to do, Jeremy? It's your choice," Shikamaru said.

"I don't know. Every time we launch a return to the past, X.A.N.A. gets stronger. But if our communication is severed like this..." The bespectacled boy checked his phone again and tried to scrape off some of the melted metal with no luck. "I guess we don't have much of a choice." Jeremy reluctantly got in the control seat and slowly typed the return trip sequence. "Return to the past," he said, pressing enter.

* * *

"Hello? Yeah, it's working fine. 'Kay. See you, Jeremy." The brunette pressed the disconnect button on his cell phone.


	32. Fanbase

****

A/N:

This section will probably seem _really_ weird to you. The thing is, this was originally just a crack chapter for my friend and I (who are the fangirls in the first part), but I ended up writing in a good plot, so here it is! Laugh your heart out. :3

"Well, this is pretty boring," Leah muttered. She looked up at the banner overhead, which crowned the center of the large one-room building. The sign proudly stated that this was the Fangirl Convention '08. Leah and her friend Harriss were sitting at a black table.

"You're telling me," the frizzy-haired girl responded, "I can't believe we have all these people here, and no one seems to be obsessed with the same people I am! I mean, no Gaara fangirls, or Kakashi, or Allen, or Kero-"

"You can stop now."

Harriss poked her friend with her flute case.

"But, yeah, I agree. So far I have only met one Lee fangirl, can you belive that?"

"Well..." Leah gave her friend a glare, rolled her eyes after Harriss started to give that "please don't kill me" look, and continued. "And yet there seem to be plenty of Sas-gay fangirls around. Go figure. I mean, negative IQ much?" Harriss gave a short laugh at the friends' inside joke. Leah checked the clock. "I guess this has just started. Let us not give up hope yet."

* * *

"All right, we're done with the project," Aelita said, discarding the bits of paper left over. The history project on blue paperboard lay on Hinata's bed. The kunoichi put up the scissors shortly after she opened a shelf. Aelita's cell phone surged and vibrated, almost falling off the desk it was on. The pink-haired girl hurriedly picked it up. "Jeremy?"

* * *

"Odd, for the last time, turn it down!"

"Okay, okay, fine! Sheesh, Ulrich, you're such a wet blanket sometimes."

The brunette rolled his eyes as his roommate lessened the volume of the music.

Ring! Ring! A cell phone buzzed.

* * *

"Okay, got it, I'll be there. Right. He's coming, too. Bye." Shikamaru hung up and turned to Lee

.  
"X.A.N.A. attack?"

"Yup."

* * *

A bolt of black electricity shot through the factory and rested on the bridge. The mass of black grew upward and sideways until it was a wide, standing circle. The dark color faded until another scene was in view.

* * *

"What the heck is that?"

"Huh?" Leah and Harriss looked around for the source of the growing hubbub. There was a huge black circle that kept growing, though it stopped soon after the girls caught sight of it. The black faded to show a whitish setting, a bridge with a manhole atop it and a view of another building.

"No way!" Leah exclaimed. Harriss took the scene in and hyperly sprang through the portal.

"H-Harriss, wait up!" Leah hesitated, but jumped through after her friend. Unbeknowst to either of the girls, a few more people followed afterward, then a few more, then a lot more.

"I really think this is it!" Leah said to herself.

"It is, it is, it is!" Harriss responded cheerfully, running around the area to see if this was really happening. "Oof! Hey, watch where you're-Hey!" Harriss said, shoving her way through a sudden crowd of fangirls. There was a thunk below, and someone speaking was heard.

_No way, was that-?!_ Leah thought. The manhole popped up and slid over, revealing the expanded Lyoko crew, who failed to notice the silent fangirls until all of the warriors had surfaced. The two groups stared at each other for a moment. A few giggles and whisperings went through the crowd of fangirls.

"What's going on?"

Harriss jumped forward. "Odd!" she squealed, glomping the unaware blonde.

Leah stared, bug-eyed, at her long-time idol. "Please excuse me if I faint!" she squealed, holding a finger up. She fell to the ground. "Okay, I am good now!" the girl said happily, bolting back up. She rushed forward and glomped Lee.

By now the fangirls were in full attack mode, and no one of the male persuasion in the area was safe.

"This is awesome!"

"OMG, it's Kiba!"

"Shiki!"

"Hey, get off of me!"

"Um, could you please...?"

"Never!"

"Jeremy!"

"Lee!"

"Back off, he is mine!"

"Oh, yeah?!"

"Yeah!"

"We need get to L-to get away from here!"

"Not in a million years, you cutie!" The male Lyoko warriors squirmed, trying in vain to escape. The viewers of Code Lyoko made sure the girls did not get away either, lest a return to the past be launched and the obsessors return to yesterday. In exasperation but still not wanting to hurt any of the fangirls surrounding him, Lee tried to shake off, quite literally, Leah, who was clinging to his arm like her life depended on it. The shinobi's attempts failed. "I am never letting go," the crazed girl said in a fashion so that anyone solely hearing the remark would assume she was frothing at the mouth.

"Well, this is awkward," said a slumped-over Shikamaru, who was being glomped simultaneously by three fangirls.

"Get off of me already!" Kiba commanded, trying his level best to get a probably psychotic fangirl away from him.

"Get away from me!" Jeremy shoved away his crazed fan and tried to make a run for the factory. He was tackled by an onslaught of the fans.

Gwen stared down the setting angrily. "No Sasuke? What kind of rip-off is this?!" she yelled, swinging her arms in the air.

Leah had a temporary moment of sanity and responded, "I know! I was hoping I would get to jam my thumbs in his eyeballs!" The girl grinned at Gwen's badly-contained response. The Sasuke fangirl stomped, tried her hardest not to yell anything out, twitched her nose, and stormed off angrily.

"Look!" Some of the fangirls turned their heads, while some thought it was a trick and paid it no nevermind. The portal was shrinking. A few girls shrieked and jumped back through before the object had shrunk to a mere dot, which disappeared shortly afterward.

Through the distraction, the relatively unharmed female members of the crew had snuck through the crowd and into the factory building.

"What? I don't get it," Aelita said, checking the computer screen once more, "The tower's deactivated itself! You don't think this is a trick, do you?"

"I don't think so, but I may be wrong. It's been a little too recent for X.A.N.A. to try and pull something like this again."

"I agree with Yumi."

Aelita typed a few things on the computer. "Nothing's been activated since, so I guess the attack is over, but still..."

"Yeah. Still a little suspicious."

* * *

The fangirls stood, staring through the windows, which were unfortunate enough to have 16 faces smushed against them. It was the first class of the day for the objects of their affections. If the 22 total fangirls had not been shaken off yesterday after a few hours, the boys would be out of luck. But they were not. As of now, they were safe. _Key words, "as of now",_ Lori thought. _Once that door opens... Heh... Jeremy will never be safe again._ She grinned underneath her lips.

"Hey! What are you girls doing?!" called Jim.

"We've been caught! Retreat! Retreat!" The fangirls, not quietly to say the least, ran like heck from their posts.

* * *

The girls perched outside the classroom complex where the final class was taking place. There was absolute silence outside the building, so much so that the teacher could be overheard telling the class not to forget the homework assignment. The 20 outside tremored in anticipation. The bell rang. Out flew the students, including the unfortunate boys of the Lyoko crew.

"Jeremy!"

"Oh, cr-" The bespectacled blonde was pinned down by none other than Lori. As if someone had given an order to attack, the fangirls dove at their respective crushes. Some bystanders confusedly inched out of the way, while some sprinted away as if they too were under fire. But the only ones in danger were Jeremy, Ulrich, Odd, Shikamaru, Lee, and Kiba.

"Will you quit poking my hair?!" Odd yelled, irritated, as Harriss continued the act.

Ulrich was on the run from five fangirls. _This is one of those times I could really use Supersprint in the real world!_ he thought as the girls gained ground.

"Wah? Hey, where'd he go?" several fans remarked as a puff of purple smoke exploded around Kiba. Jacie plunged into the result of the detonation of a smoke bomb. She coughed and tried to wave away the purple fog, but by the time it had dissipated, Kiba was long gone.

"Agh! I think I chose the wrong guy to obsess over!" Talia wailed.

"Yeah, I don't think any of us were planning on having to outrun him, thank you," Leah responded. _Come on, where the heck is he? I wanna glomp him!_ she thought, trying in vain to locate the shinobi.

* * *

_Someone's still following me!_ Kiba thought, turning for the dorms. He was still being pursued as he darted up the stairs. Kiba hurriedly entered his room and slammed the door behind him.

"Hey, how did you-?" Harriss had somehow already gotten into the room and was petting Akamaru.

* * *

"This is so cool!"

"He's using his Shadow Possession on me! I think I'm gonna faint!"

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Aaaah! He just talked to me!"

"He was not talking to you!"

"Yeah-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!" The girls were involutarily muffled by their own hands.


	33. Onslaught

**A/N:** The chaos continues!

Autumn walked into the middle of the clearing. Leah, Talia, and Rose, hiding in the brush, watched in interest being that the person in whom they were truly interested was not visible. Autumn eyed the ground carefully, her head still held high, as she continued walking. _Perfect!_ she thought. The girl took another step into a depression in the ground, and she buckled her knees, collapsing. "Ack!" she yelled out. "I think I twisted my ankle!" she said extra loudly. Autumn tried to lift her foot and winced.

* * *

"Are you finished yet?" Jeremy moaned, still struggling to get Lori to stop hugging him.

"Never!" she shouted menacingly.

* * *

"All right, all right, one at a time!" Peyton and Olivia swooned at the thought of actually glomping, with permission no less, Odd.

* * *

Autumn groaned and gave up on getting her foot out of the depression. She just sat there, rubbed it, and continued to show a lot of pain.

"No way," Rose muttered under her breath, "She's trying to-"

"Are you okay?" Autumn was confronted by her long-time crush.

"I am now," she said dreamily. She jumped up and tried to hug Lee.

"That is unacceptable!" came a voice from the bushes. Leah stepped out and walked toward the two in the center of the clearing. "You fake a serious injury just so you can manipulate him into coming to your aid? I swear, this-" She abruptly stopped and glomped Lee herself.

* * *

"Hey! You! Get over here, now!"

"Huh?" Aelita turned to see Gwen staring her down. The pink-haired girl walked over to the Sasuke fangirl.

"What is it?"

"You guys are somehow responsible for getting me here; now, I want back!"

* * *

Beep, beep! Beep, beep! Jeremy's laptop urged. "An activated tower! I have to hurry-"

"Not on my watch, Jeremy!"

"But-"

"No!" Lori glomped harder.

* * *

A grey blob seeped out of the electrical socket outside the gym. It flickered and formed shape, then took on colors. Now disguised as Hinata, X.A.N.A. walked aside the building.

* * *

Ulrich yelled, still being tailed by Allie, Rachel, Michelle, Katie, and Sandra.

"Huh? That sounded like-" Yumi looked out her window and viewed the scene. "Looks like they're back," she said, leaving her room and stepping down the stairs.

* * *

"There you are, Hinata!" Aelita yelled, waving at who was supposedly her roommate. The pink-haired girl approached and added, "X.A.N.A.'s activated a tower, and I can't contact any of the boys! Come on, let's get to the factory!" The polymorphic clone nodded and followed Aelita.

* * *

"Will you guys stop bugging him already?" The fangirls as well as Ulrich stopped for a moment.

"Oh, no!" Rachel shrieked. "Y and U! Y and U! It's true, it's true!"

Katie joined in screaming.

"What the heck are they blabbering about?!" Yumi yelled over the increasingly louder group of fangirls.

"Who knows?!" Ulrich shouted back.

* * *

"I can't believe this; Yumi's not answering her phone, either!" Aelita exclaimed, hanging up and dialing again. X.A.N.A. responded so as not to arouse suspicion.

"Hmm."

* * *

"Aah!" Kiba's door was forced open by the fangirls, who charged in.

* * *

Aelita led the way into the sewers.

* * *

_Oh, no! I can't hold up much longer!_ Shikamaru thought.

"Look! Look!" Courtney exclaimed, "It flickered!" The shadow connecting the chunin and the three girls split in two.

"This doesn't look good!" Courtney, Kailee, and Jordan squealed as they sprinted toward their prey.

* * *

"Hey, Kiba, your cell phone's ringing," Harriss commented, still petting Akamaru, whose eyes were closed at the moment.

"Do I look like I can answer it right now?!" Kiba screamed back, trying his level best to escape the mob of fangirls.

* * *

Aelita climbed up the ladder and exited the sewer system, helping who she thought was Hinata out as well. "Aaah!" the girl screamed as electricity shot out the polymorphic clone's hand onto the human.

* * *

"Wah!" Kailee yelled, unexpectedly recieving a kick in the stomach. _Got to get away from these psychos_, Shikamaru thought, trying to escape from the crowd of fangirls.

* * *

X.A.N.A. walked into the scanner room with Aelita in its hands. The unconscious girl was placed in one of the tube-like structures, and the polymorphic clone rode up to the computer room. After typing a sequence, X.A.N.A. virtualized Aelita.

* * *

Shikamaru was in the forest now, trying to get away from the obsessors. _There! The sewer entry! I'll hide down there for now_, he thought, quickly removing the manhole, jumping down, and replacing the chunk of metal.

"Where'd he go?"

"I don't see him!"

"Well, he's got to be around here somewhere!"

* * *

X.A.N.A. typed in some coding, and the Overpod appeared near Aelita. It had not taken long for X.A.N.A to discover the new program Jeremy and the others had put in, and now was a very convenient time to use it. X.A.N.A. pulled up the distance maneuvering program and quickly scooped up an unaware Aelita in the Overpod. The vehicle was guided with its cargo to an area near a tower, where it sped up and abruptly stopped. Aelita was propelled into the tower before she knew what was going on.

* * *

_Have they gone yet?_ Shikamaru thought, glancing up at the manhole above him. He started to reach up, but stopped himself. _Let's play it safe and clear the area,_ he thought, taking the usual course to the factory.

* * *

At superspeed, X.A.N.A. typed in the paralyzation virus sequence, and Aelita froze, her limbs locked in position. Then X.A.N.A. began to enter a new code.

* * *

Shikamaru hoisted himself to the surface as his feet touched the bridge as opposed to where they were a second before, a rung on the tunnel ladder. There was a clack, shortly followed by a further away clunk. The chunin looked down to see his cell phone back on the sewer concrete.

"Better get that." He jumped back down and retrieved the black phone. "A missed call? From who?" He checked. "Aelita? Huh. Looks like I showed up in the right place at the right time." He put his cell phone back in his pocket and continued into the factory.

Shikamaru soon arrived in the control room. Someone was in the seat and typing something madly.

"Hinata? What are you doing in the controls?"

X.A.N.A. whipped around in the chair.

"You're not-!"

The ninja barely avoided an electrical blast.

"Shadow Possession Jutsu!" Nothing happened. _I still don't have enough chakra!_ he thought, dodging another attack. X.A.N.A. rushed forward and swiped at Shikamaru's neck. He ducked and swung his feet around in hopes of knocking the figure over, but the polymorphic clone flickered and evaded the kick. In the second Shikamaru took to recover, X.A.N.A. surged forward, and miniature bolts of lightning licked at the chunin's skin. He collapsed, and X.A.N.A. reclaimed its position in the chair. It resumed the typing of the program.

* * *

"Uh!" Jacie was forced out, and the door slammed. Kiba panted, still guarding and leaning against the door in case the fangirls came back.

* * *

The virus was set to settle in one minute. In that time, the previously implanted virus, the paralyzation virus, had to be lifted. Aelita could move again, but it would not do her much good.

The pink-haired girl realized she was no longer held captive by the virus and hurried out of the tower.

"Jeremy? What's going on?" There was no response from Earth, nor was anything happening on Lyoko. "Hello? Anyone?"

* * *

"Come on, just let me go already!" Lori huffed and responded, "Fine, if you really hate me that much, haul your butt out of here."

Jeremy sat up. "Really?"

"No!"

"Ack!" Jeremy flinched.

Lori giggled. "You're so cute when you're scared!"

* * *

Shikamaru slowly gained consciousness, and his eyes bolted open. He jumped up and checked the control chair, but X.A.N.A. was gone. Something on the screen was counting down, with fifteen seconds left. Shikamaru slapped on the earpiece and tried to figure out what was going on.

"Aelita? Can you hear me?"

"Shikamaru? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me. Do you know what's going on? There's some sort of countdown here, and I can't figure it out."

"I don't know; I was leading Hinata to the factory since a tower had been activated-"

"Wait!" The ninja madly typed random things on the keyboard, but it was too late. The countdown finished, and the screen showing it closed.

"Did you figure it out, Shikamaru?"

"No, it just stopped. Okay, what were you saying?"

"Well, a tower had been activated, and I couldn't contact any of you, but I found Hinata across from the cafeteria, so I traveled to the factory with her. I stepped out of the sewers, something happened, and... I'm suddenly on Lyoko being hauled by the Overpod, I get into a tower somehow, and then I can't move, and then you show up."

"Yeah, well, that wasn't Hinata. Let's leave it at that. In the meantime, you think you might want to try and get to the activated tower?"

"Right. What sector is it in?"

"Forest."

"Okay, I'll take a tower there." Aelita entered the tower where she was previously held. She plummeted off the edge and arrived in another tower. She stuck her head out. "Lucky jump, I guess," she said, stepping out into the forest sector.

"The tower's to your west, and you'd better hurry if you want to make it without any opposition."

"Got it." Aelita sprinted toward the glowing red tower. But a few seconds until she reached it, she slowed. Soon she was atop the second level, where she entered "Lyoko" as she so often did.

"Tower deactivated."

"Return to the past, now!"

* * *

"And you couldn't stop the countdown?"

"Yeah. I don't know what it was; I guess we'll just have to hope for the best."

"At least we're not getting mauled by fangirls now." Shikamaru smiled.

"Yeah. At least that."


	34. Everywhere

**_A/N: _**This chappy has some more crossover-ness. I do not own that series, either. Review if you like!

"-And I guess we're out of time. All right, class, you may leave. Don't forget to study for the semester exam!" A few chairs squeaked against the floor as the class exited the final classroom of the day.

Just a couple of minutes later, Hinata laid her books on her bed. "Oh, I almost forgot," she said, turning around. She lifted up her calendar and flipped the page so that the word "November" was no longer showing.

* * *

"I think I've got it," Raven said, letting her books, previously bobbing in the air, fall to the ground. She still held one in her hand. A knock at her door echoed ever so slightly through the room. The dark-haired girl stepped over and slid the dark grey door open. "Oh, it's you." She stepped out of her room into the Titans' hallway and faced Neji.

"Have you found it yet?"

"I may have. You said you need to get to Konoha, right?"

"Yes."

Raven reopened the book, whose cover had intricate silver markings on a violet background. She flipped through a few pages before stopping. "All right," she mumbled, "let's see what I can do."

Two sets of footsteps thumped on the floor toward Raven and Neji. The two occupants of the corridor turned to see two more Titans, who had now stopped being as they were close enough to speak.

"Did you find something?" asked Robin.

"Mmm-hmm," Raven responded, still holding up her book.

"So, I take it you're leaving?" Cyborg asked Neji.

"Yes, as long as everything works, I will be back in Konoha soon."

"All right. Thanks again for all of your help with Hot Shot. We may not have defeated her without you. And..." The leader of the Teen Titans paused. "Remember, if you ever think you want to come back..."

"Right." Neji gave a blunt nod. The communicator he had recieved earlier was in his back pocket. "But as for now..."

"All right, step back."

Two of the Titans did as the girl said. Raven closed her eyes and began a chant. After the long string of words, she yelled out "Konoha!", and a circular tunnel surrounded Neji, who soon disappeared.

* * *

"Ugh!" The shinobi faceplanted on the hard ground. He rubbed the side of his face as he got up and looked around. "I made it!" he remarked, a bit stunned.

"Neji?!"

* * *

"Yeah, you're telling me." Ulrich shook his head. "That was insane back there; I'd probably be dead if you didn't step in."

"Always glad to help, I guess."

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Jeremy asked, walking up to the crossroads bench.

"Oh, just talking about that incident the other day with all the girls. How'd you hold up?"

"Not very well. I guess I got off lucky since only one of them was after me, but still, I'm pretty sure-- what was her name, Lauren, Lori, something like that--anyway, I'm pretty sure she was psychotic or something."

"Yeah, try five of them; believe me, it's a lot worse."

"Well, I'd better get to class. See you guys later!"

"Bye, Jeremy!"

"See ya."

* * *

"Finally. 'Sabout time the ship showed up." The brown-haired worker got off the lamppost where he was previously leaning and walked to the harbor. He adjusted his brown hat as the medium-sized ship pulled in. A few other men secured the boat to the docks, and the brunette walked forward. A gray-haired man, probably in his 60s, appeared. He fiddled with the collar on his suit and stepped down onto the pier.

"This is the shipment for the zoo, right?" the brown-haired man asked gruffly.

"Yes, sir," the older man replied, "A koala and her cub fresh from Australia."

"All right." The brunette wedged himself past the other man and boarded the boat. Soon he located the bright green crate, two pairs of eyes staring out from one of the gaps between planks. "Hup," he grunted, lifting the crate at waist height and waddling off the ship. The brunette set the container on a red-painted dolly. He swiped his hands across each other a few times to rid them of dirt and swiveled the dolly around.

Within minutes, the man and the two koalas had arrived at the zoo. The green crate plopped down on a mattress of leaves. The brown-haired man jiggled the side of the crate, and it slid off. The mother koala, her baby in her pouch, hesitantly crawled out the chamber into the chilly daylight. The man turned his head to cough, and the other occupant of the crate crept out. The brunette cleared his throat, picked up the much lighter crate, slipped the lid back on, and carried the container away.

New to this territory, the mouse spider walked forward and took in its blurry surroundings. The arachnid jerked and locked in position as a grey, phantom-like entity engulfed it. The spider recovered, but with the Eye of X.A.N.A. in two of its eyes.

* * *

"Shikamaru!" Lee came up to the lunch table and set his tray down.

"What is it?" Shikamaru asked, some remnants of food still in his mouth.

"I think I remembered the second hand sign!"

"Really?! What was it?"

"It was like this." The green-clad shinobi folded his hands together in the Snake sign.

"All right, got it." Shikamaru pulled out a piece of paper from a folder. He slapped the folder shut and grabbed a pencil. The word "Snake" appeared between two other words on the paper, which was replaced in its holder. "Great. All we need is the last hand sign. Then we can finally get home."

"Right. I will keep trying to remember. Hopefully I will come across it soon, and then we both will get to see the people we love!"

_Yeah, sure, if you say so_, thought the other occupant of the room.

* * *

The possessed spider crept onto the campus unnoticed, though it would not stay that way for long. The mouse spider flickered, splitting into two possessed spiders. The process continued until there was a huge, writhing mass of arachnids, all intent on one goal. The group silently scuttled to the outside of the cafeteria building and entered via the open door.

"I can't believe Daddy was so rough on me!" Sissi proclaimed to the rest of her group. She humphed and bit down on the food on her fork. "That's weird; I feel like something's crawling on-Aah!" she shrieked. She jumped up and madly shook her arm, yelling, "Spider! Spider!" Her fork went flying and clanged on the table. The mouse spider eventually fell off the girl's arm, and she stopped yelling, making the badly stifled laughter more easily heard. "Hey! It was a big spider," she muttered, sitting back down.

* * *

"And you never saw anyone else from here?"

"No, ma'am. I was the only one from Konoha as far as I know."

"All right. So how'd you get back?"

"I met a group of people from an organization called the Teen Titans. A girl there figured out a way to send me home."

"Did she cast the jutsu?"

"No; she used some sort of spell, but it wasn't a jutsu, or at least not a type I am familiar with."

"What makes you say that?"

"She never made a single hand sign; all she used was a book as well as some sort of chant."

"I see." The Hokage leaned back.

* * *

"So it's just some mystery virus out of nowhere?"

"Yeah, I don't have a clue what it wa-" A loud shriek interrupted the chunin. Heads turned and gaped at the cluster of possessed spiders invading the room. The arachnids stayed in place for a moment, but soon charged at the humans in the room. Kids ran around screaming, trying desperately to kick off a spider or shake it out of their hair.

"Yowch!"

"Augh!"

"It bit me!"

"What the?!"

"Get off of me!"

* * *

"Any ideas yet?" the blonde moaned.

"No."

"I thought as much." Ino plopped down on the grass. "We've been walking for days, we don't know what's going on, we have no idea where we're going, we haven't seen any signs of civilization since we showed up here, and... I'm just sick of it!" She uprooted a few blades of grass and threw them into the breeze.

"It's not exactly a party, but I guess we'll just have to deal with it." The brown-haired ninja sighed. "We might not get back to the village, but... we can still try."

"Yeah, I guess so." Ino shifted her legs' position as orange light glared at the landscape. "Well, it's getting late. I guess we'll set up camp here." She yawned, and her gaze slid across the grass. "Huh?"

"What is it?"

"It's..." The blonde reached forward and plucked a stem from the ground. "It's a fujibakama flower..." She twirled it in her fingers and blankly stared at the horizon.

"Okay..." _Of course you wouldn't get it, Choji,_ the other ninja thought. _Back before I made genin, at the flower arranging classes..._ Her focus returned to the rotating flower in her hand. _Wasn't this what Sakura compared herself to? I wonder how she's doing. Is she wrapped up in whatever mess this is, too? Probably not. And what about Sasuke? He ran away from the village, but surely he's back by now, right?_ Ino set the flower down. _How did we get here, anyway?_ She sighed and fell back on purpose, a small poof of dust floating away from the impact. _I guess I'll try and figure it out tomorrow_, she thought, drifting off into sleep.


	35. Itsy Bitsy Spider

"Get out of the way! We need to get through!" Ulrich shouted through the chaos as he tried to get through to the door.

"I got bit!" someone wailed in front of him.

"Yeah, well, I'm trying not to!" The brunette hurriedly shoved his way through the crowd. He finally got to the door, where his roommate was waiting. The two were the first to start toward the factory. "How did you get to the door so fast?"

"I just crawled across the ceiling. Why, didn't you?"

Ulrich rolled his eyes and grabbed a rope as he and Odd slid down to the main room.

* * *

"Ow!" Yumi slapped the spider away from her stomach.

"Yumi! Come on!" Aelita called from the door.

"I'm trying!"

* * *

"Everyone's here, great. Get to the scanners." All but one of the group disappeared behind the elevator doors. Jeremy adjusted his earpiece and set to work. "Transfer, Aelita. Transfer, Kiba. Transfer, Odd. Scanner, Aelita. Scanner, Kiba. Scanner, Odd. Virtualization." There was a pause as three of the crew appeared in the desert sector, then the blonde continued. "Transfer, Ulrich. Transfer, Yumi. Transfer, Lee. Scanner, Ulrich. Scanner, Yumi. Scanner, Lee. Virtualization." Jeremy mumbled, "And last but not least... Transfer, Hinata. Scanner, Hinata. Virtualization."

"Think we have a big enough gang here?"

"The more protection, the better. Aelita just has a higher chance of getting to the tower."

"If you say so."

"And the tower is north of you."

"Got it!" The conglomerate of Lyoko warriors sped, feet slapping the ground, toward the north. It was not long until a swarm of hornets caused one of Ulrich's swords to click out of its sheath.

"Uh!" He swung out, and a hornet disappeared in a yellow slash.

"Laser Arrow!" A small point flew at the swarm and penetrated the defense as a hornet exploded. Two kunai flashed to the monsters, and two of the minions of X.A.N.A. were destroyed. Four still remained, and one fired a laser at the group. Yumi jumped out of the way, but another warrior accidentally blocked her escape, and she was hit.

"I don't think this is working too well," she said, snatching a fan to absorb the next shot.

"You're right. This isn't like what I thought it would be. Well..." Jeremy folded his fingers. "Any volunteers for devirtualization?"

"You don't have to devirtualize them, Jeremy. You just need to separate them. How many do we have...? Seven. Okay, Lee, Odd, and Yumi: you guys will be the scouting group. You'll go ahead of the others and be the first to take on monsters. Ulrich, Hinata, and Kiba: you'll be the escort group. You guys'll stay behind with Aelita. Sound good enough?"

"Yeah, that'll work."

"Good idea, Shikamaru." Jeremy gave a short nod and faced the computer screens again. According to the monster scanner, the seven had already taken care of the other hornets.

Yumi took a few steps forward and nodded at the others who were supposed to be in her group. "Come on," she prompted. There was a small patter of feet as Odd and Lee joined her. The two groups set off.

"Get ready; some krabs up ahead!"

Sure enough, a couple of paces later, the Lyoko sky was blocked by a crowd of krabs. One leaned back, charging a laser. A small _chu_ sounded, and the laser flew toward the first group. Odd bounded to the side, and a small ripple appeared as the laser struck the desert sector itself. Lee invisibly swooped up to the top of a krab, and his fist plummeted down onto the Eye of X.A.N.A.

"Laser Arrow!" Another one down. An enemy laser bit into the ground near Yumi, who barely evaded the fire.

"Yah!" she grunted, swinging both her fans out at the red monster. They curved up and slashed an X across the top of the krab, which exploded. Yumi jumped forward to avoid another laser and grasped for one of her fans. "Uh!" It was too late. The laser had struck her in the foot, where she started to disappear.

"Yumi!"

* * *

The girl arrived in the scanner room panting as a few wisps of smoke dissipated. She grunted in pain, and her right hand flew to the now-red bite, her other hand leaning against the side of the scanner and pushing so she could get out. She staggered over to the elevator and collasped, still breathing heavily, against the side as the doors shut and locked.

* * *

Two krabs remained now, and the escort group had arrived at the scene. Kiba zigzagged under a krab, which confusedly tried to shoot but missed, and the arm blade went straight up from underneath the krab, which shook violently and exploded.

* * *

The shadowed man stepped forward, grinning and twisting his foot on some ashes. A huge conflagration behind him was spreading and usurping the whole village; it flashed forward in front of the man, straight toward her.

Ino bolted up and looked around. Darkness surrounded her, and for a moment she feared she might be dead. But she felt the rustle of grass between her fingers and realized where she was.

"What a nightmare," she sighed softly, bringing her knees up. She closed her eyes for a moment before reopening them. "Hey!" she started. "I think I can-Choji! Choji, wake up!"

"Huh? What's..." The brunette mumbled, rubbing an eye. "What's going on?"

"I know how we can get out of here!"

* * *

"You're almost there, guys!"

"Good; it's about time."

In just a few moments, the tower was in sight. A red burst of light came zooming toward the first group. A group of tarantulas stood tall before the Lyoko warriors. Lee and Odd easily dodged the attack and rushed forward, one a streak of purple, the other invisible. The escort group, which was now Ulrich and Hinata as well as Aelita, was soon to arrive at the scene, but not soon enough to save Odd from devirtualization. The boy emerged from the yellowish scanner along with a puff of smoke. He stumbled over to the elevator, which he rode to the computer room.

Jeremy was at the controls as always, but Shikamaru and Kiba were knelt down beside Yumi, who was restraining herself with effort not to touch her red and swollen bite.

"I don't know; I've never seen something like this. It's probably a bad idea to move her, and I don't think she'd be going anywhere, anywa-" The chunin stopped in the middle of the statement as Odd entered the room.

"Hey, Odd. Any chance you know how to treat a spider bite like this?" After recieving a negative answer, he continued, "I've never seen a spider like it before, so I don't know what to do... All we have planned now is just wait until the others deactivate the tower, and then launch an RTTP."

"I'm pretty sure that's all we can do. That's why I'm staying at the controls. Some hornets are coming, guys!"

"Got it!"

One tarantula remained, and the crew was keeping an eye out for the upcoming hornets.

"And..." The tarantula fired three times in rapid succession, missing its target every time. "Now!" At the signal, Ulrich pulled out his other sword quickly and held it with both hands to his side. Hinata sprung off it and pounced on the tarantula's head.

"Gentle Fist!" The monster lysed, leaving the girl to land softly on the ground.

"Aelita, hurry! You might be able to make it to the tower before the hornets-" A beam of red light at his foot stopped Ulrich cold. "No!" The brunette bared his teeth in frustration as his virtual form unraveled.

"I guess it's just us, then," the purple-haired genin murmured.

"Yes, I suppose so."

"Aelita!" Jeremy's voice called from Earth, "Make your way to the tower. Hinata and Lee should be able to take care of things."

"Right." The pink-haired girl took another look around before making a run for the tower. A hum signaled the monsters' arrival.

"Huh!" A kunai went flying toward the leader of the pack, who dodged, leaving the hornet behind him to be struck.

* * *

The five red lights on the monster scanner moved closer to the Lyoko warriors as Jeremy decided to take a quick look behind him to see if Yumi was coping well. She was breathing hard, but not very audibly. The others were swarmed around her, but they were shooed away by someone, whose hand was the only thing visible. The Ishiyama was slumped up against the wall, hardly sitting up at that, and her eyes were closed. Beads of sweat were across her face, and she gritted her teeth as the spider bite caused another wave of pain.


	36. Backfire

A/N: The virus is revealed! Kekeh. Review if you like.

The hornets were keeping their distance, though the lasers they shot were still dangerously close to their targets. A monster charged up for its attack and released a laser beam, which collided with an oncoming kunai, nulling the attack and destroying the weapon. Another throwing knife flew at the swarm, which managed to evade it. A laser fired, almost striking Hinata, but she moved too quickly. Lee was keeping up aside Aelita, who was leading the way to the not-too-distant tower. Apparently realizing that the real target was elsewhere, the hornets abruptly changed course, leaving Hinata to run after them. Aelita jumped out of the way of two simutaneous laser beams and held up her hand. A pink orb swirled around, and she called out, "Energy Field!"

Instantly, the ball exploded into tiny bits of energy shrapnel, and Aelita collapsed.

"Aelita! Are you all-Huh!" Lee dodged an incoming laser mid-sentence. "Are you all right?" The pink-haired girl was still laying flat on the ground.

"Did she get hit?"

"No, I do not think so." Lee picked up Aelita and slung one of her arms over his neck.

"What's going on?!" Hinata took out another monster and looked up. "What's wrong, Jeremy?" she asked, dodging another laser strike.

"I don't know, but Aelita's life points are disappearing, fast! Lee, get her to the tower, hurry!"

"Right!"

* * *

"Come on, he's got to be back by now!" Ulrich peered at the entrance and shook his head.

"No, nothing." The brunette knelt down next to Yumi. "Just hang in there, okay? Shikamaru should be back with help any minute now."

"What's that?"

"Huh? Is he coming?"

"No, it's not Shikamaru, but someone's coming!" Kiba started to get up.

"Maybe it's the nurse?" Odd suggested hopefully, though he sounded doubtful.

* * *

"Jeremy, how do I enter the tower?"

"You can't. Aelita's the only one who can go into the tower. Is she able to walk at all?"

"No."

* * *

A faint hum echoed through the air of the computer room.

"I hear something, too, but it's definitely not a per-" The brunette was cut off by the hum, which suddenly grew louder. The entrance exploded with X.A.N.A.-fied spiders, scuttling quickly toward the crew. Jeremy turned in his chair.

"What's going o-!" He whipped back around to the computer at the sight of the swarm of spiders. "Just-Just push her in, now!" Jeremy commanded, nervously adjusting his earpiece.

"Yes, sir!" came Lee's response.

* * *

On Lyoko, Lee swung Aelita's arm off him. He hesitated for a second, then shoved the girl into the tower.

"Aelita, can you hear me?" shouted Jeremy. He recieved no response.

* * *

"Uh!" Yumi doubled over in pain.

"Yumi! Just hold on a little longer, okay?" The brunette got nothing for a response but some heavy panting. "Yowch!" Ulrich expelled the spider from his hand with a quick flick of the wrist. "Ugh!" His hand flew to his back to rid it of its crawling sensation. He spun around to see how the others were doing. The spiders were showing no mercy, and the rest of the devirtualized crew was holding them off as best as they could. Odd had picked up a pipe of some sort and was smashing the arachnids with it, while Kiba had gotten a kunai and was slashing at them. Ulrich himself was stomping on the spiders and desperately trying not to let any reach Yumi.

"Aelita! Please, wake up!" The girl in the tower still showed no sign of doing so. "At least her life points stopped going down," Jeremy muttered to himself. "Come on, Aelita! If you don't hurry..." He trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence.

* * *

"Can't you go any faster?!" Shikamaru yelled, keeping well ahead of the nurse.

"I'm sorry!" she called back. "I'm trying my hardest! If I just had my car..."

"You couldn't drive it through this forest, anyway!" the Nara growled. _Forget it_, he thought. _It's not like she'll remember, anyway_. He dropped his pace for a minute to let her catch up.

* * *

"No! Yumi, don't quit on us!" The girl was now laying flat on the ground, with a few spiders trying to get at her. "Get off her!" Ulrich screamed, smacking three spiders off the Ishiyama.

"Jeremy! Has Aelita gotten up yet?"

"No! Aelita, come on!"

"Aelita!"

* * *

A huge breath was inhaled. "What's going on...?" the girl said softly.

"Aelita!"

"What... What is it, Jeremy?" Aelita slowly stood.

"Aelita! You're awake!" Jeremy exclaimed. He took a moment to regain composure before he continued. "You've got to hurry, Aelita! You're in the tower already, just hurry and deactivate-" He abruptly stopped.

"Jeremy?"

* * *

_Let's hope I have enough energy to do this_, the black-haired chunin thought as the nurse caught up. "All right, here goes," he said to himself under his breath, the nurse now running beside him. _Shadow Possession!_ The two pale shadows were united, and the nurse and the ninja sped up.

* * *

"Get... Off..." Ulrich said weakly, trying in vain to sweep the spiders nagging at his ankles away. A few more arachnids were atop Yumi, who was breathing so slowly and shallowly it was hard to realize she was breathing at all.

* * *

There was a soft ping as Aelita's foot tapped the edge of the second level of the tower. Her other foot made contact, and she stepped to the center of the platform, where a bluish interface appeared.

* * *

The brunette collapsed aside his already fallen friend. He peered at her through half-closed eyes, praying she would make it.

* * *

"Aelita" appeared on the screen and vanished just as quickly to reveal the word "Code".

* * *

"Jeremy!" Odd saw the bespectacled boy slump to the side of his chair. The tall-haired blonde made his way to the chair quickly. "Hey, wake up!"

* * *

The pink-haired girl gently tapped in "Lyoko".

"Tower deactivated," she said, her hand naturally falling to her side.

* * *

"Tower deactivated."

"Uh! Wait, how do I- Right!" Odd leaned forward over Jeremy and quickly typed the return sequence. "Return to the past, now!" he yelled, jabbing the enter key.

* * *

The crew appeared in the cafeteria, and Ulrich was the first to quickly look around. He relaxed, obviously, when he saw Yumi, alive and well.

"Good to see you're okay."

"Likewise."

* * *

"Okay, so we'll both do the jutsu?"

"Mmm-hmm. And then make sure to hook arms so we don't get separated."

"All right... What was it again?"

"Dragon, Snake, Ox, Ram."

"Got it."

"All right." The blonde swallowed.

"You ready, Choji?"

"Yep."

"Let's go!" The two made the four hand signs, locked arms, and faded into the green landscape.


	37. Cold as Ice

"I can't believe the semester exams are tomorrow!" Kiba dropped a pile of books on his bed. "I have so much studying to do..."

"Arf!"

* * *

Clack! Clackity-clack! One of the Inuzuka's eyelids popped open. _What's going on?_ he thought for a second. "Aw, no! I fell asleep in the middle of studying!"

"You retain information better if you sleep instead of stay up late cramming."

"Says you! I don't remember ever seeing you asleep!"

The computer screen in front of Jeremy went black. "Looks like you're in for a treat then," the blonde said, getting up out of the chair. He was already in his pajamas, and he was soon atop his bed, the covers pulled back loosely. "Well, g'night."

"Night."

* * *

_Wah! Wah! Wah!_ Shikamaru rolled, or rather flopped, over to glare at his roommate. "Why did you set your alarm?" the chunin grumbled.

"Well, it is test day, and if you get up earlier, you will have more time to study," said roommate responded, slipping his shoes on.

"And what makes you think I need to study?" Shikamaru mumbled, not getting out of his bed.

"Well, I had noticed that you did not study yesterday, so I assumed you were going to do so this morning." The genin got up from his bed and started to smooth out a few wrinkles from the sheet.

"Maybe I just wasn't going to study," the lazier of the pair huffed.

"Even so, it really is such a waste to sleep in so late. What could you possibly gain from it?"

"My sanity, most likely," the Nara grumbled, sitting up at last.

* * *

"Hey, guys," Ulrich mumbled, setting his breakfast tray down on the table.

"Hey, Ulrich, what took you so long?" The other students were close to finishing their meals.

"Studying," he muttered drowsily.

"Yeah, I figured. Wake up early, like Mr. Wake-Up-at-Four-Thirty-In-The-Morning here?" Shikamaru said.

"Actually, I normally get up earlier; I just thought you might not want to wake up that early." The students gave Lee a weird glance.

"Yeah, because 4:30 isn't early at all," the black-haired chunin muttered under his breath.

"Well, I'm going to go to the classroom early," said Aelita, standing up from the table and handling her gray tray.

"All right, go ahead."

The girl spun around and put up her tray, then stepping out into the outdoors. The minute she left the cafeteria, her breath came out in cloudy puffs, similar to the ones high above her. "Brrrr..." She shivered.

* * *

The air of the classroom was thick with anticipation. Some students looked casually around the room, some drew, and some fidgeted in their seats, the tension finding them unable to sit still. A series of sharp, loud clacks led to the room, and the teacher in her high heels stepped in, closing the wooden door with a faint click. She was holding a box full of papers, a few fluttering out from their container. The box found itself on the table, and the loose copies were promptly picked up.

"All right, class, clear your desks."

A few nervous shuffles ensued, as well as some quiet coughing.

Ulrich nervously tapped a pencil on his desk, while Odd nonchalantly jammed one up his nose. He recieved a dark-eyed glare and slipped it out before the teacher looked toward him. After a massive shuffling of papers on the teacher's part, she cleared her throat and began reading out loud mechanically from the script before her.

"Today you will be taking..." She droned on, stumbling on a word or two and shooting a few glances at the class periodically.

Tk! Tk! Tk! The roof played the same sound as it would during a rainstorm. No one paid attention, being too tensely focused on the packets the teacher was handing out. Each test made a flopping sound as it made contact with a desk. The drops on the roof tapped harder as someone cleared his throat nervously. The pauses between drops grew longer, and the noise grew louder. Suddenly, a warped, metallic screech sounded above the students, several more following, and large cones of ice plummeted into the building. Screams came from terrified students fleeing their desks in the center of the room, where the ice had fallen. A few girls quivered behind an overturned desk as more and more icicles interrupted the former silence. The thunking stopped, and no more shards of ice fell. A few people started to get up, but the icicles, which had never even begun to melt, flew into the air and hovered about a meter above the ground. They swirled slowly in a circle, blade-like edges outward. Then the pace sped up until the ring was a blur of whirling, frozen needles. The classroom was now silent, as if the students unanimously decided that screaming their lungs out would not do them any good.

A blonde head popped up from behind one of the building blocks of the desk fortress and jerked back and forth a few times before spotting its pink-haired counterpart. Jeremy ducked back under the shelter and crawled over to his friend. "I didn't bring my cell phone or my laptop because of the test rules," he whispered, "It must be X.A.N.A.!"

Aelita peeked over the top of a desk before sinking back to her previous position. "How are we going to get out?" she whispered back.

"Come on," Jeremy said quietly, starting to move to another desk.

Whack! The ring of ice had finally decided to attack, colliding with the desk nearest to Jeremy. There was a clunk and a metallic shriek as the desk bent to the icicles' will. A few stunted screams resulted from this, and after a moment of shock, the bespectacled boy continued around the U of desks. The icy circle hovered in the air ominously as the Belpouis and Aelita made their way to the edge of the semicircle nearest the door. Jeremy nodded at Yumi, who was in the vicinity and inched closer to the pair.

"Odd! Ulrich!" she whispered, turning her head around for a moment, then whipping it back to sneak a peek at the newest X.A.N.A. attacker. The two mentioned boys crawled to the group, as well as the rest of the Lyoko warriors in the room. "So what are we going to do?" the black-haired girl whispered, directing the question to Jeremy.

"It doesn't look like we'll be able to open the door in time, before it can get to us, I mean," the blonde whispered back, playing tactician due to the absence of a certain Lyoko warrior. "So it looks like we'll be playing bull-fighter," he finished, adjusting his glasses.

"So who's our matador?"

"I got it." The purple-clad Lyoko warrior leaped over the desk barrier toward the test-conditions-locked door. "Hey! Over here!" Odd waved his arms around, shouting at the ring of ice. Immediately realizing the opportunity, it flew at the boy. "Toro!" he shouted, jumping to his left. The icicles slammed into the door, which bent and showed a few cracks but was still standing. "Is that all you've got?" Odd taunted, leaping back in front of the target. X.A.N.A. shot toward the blonde, who ducked out of the way. Suddenly, the ring pulled upward, just grazing the door.

"He knows what we're up to! It won't work now!"

"Uh!" Odd kicked at the crack in the door, which sent up a few chips of wood but did not seem to do much good.

"Forget this!" The Inuzuka jumped over the fortress and landed his own kick in the door, which started to give, the bottom portion jutting back. One attack later, the wood was ripped from its respective hinge and thrown into the hallway. Odd, being closest at the time, crawled out first, the other Lyoko warriors following shortly after.

"Kiba, are you coming?"

The mentioned brunette turned to the questioning rosette. "I'll take care of this thing. Just hurry up and get to the factory!" She hm-ed a response and crawled out the former door, running to catch up with the others.


	38. Hypnosis

"Transfer, Yumi! Transfer, Aelita! Transfer, Odd! Scanner, Yumi! Scanner, Aelita! Scanner, Odd! Virtualization! Transfer, Ulrich! Transfer, Hinata! Scanner, Ulrich! Scanner, Hinata! Virtualization!" With the flick of a finger, the group appeared in the virtual world of Lyoko. "Tower's dead ahead, guys," Jeremy announced. "And a few monsters are waiting for you, too."

Without a word, the warriors started running toward their goal. It was not long until a fan whizzed through the air at the leader of a pack of kankerlots. Its legs whirred rapidly as the monster tried to escape, but it was knocked backward shortly before it exploded. The rest of the group sent out lasers with an echo of pings. Most of the shots hit the icy ground, but one barely grazed Aelita's leg. She turned to the offender.

"Energy-!"

"Aelita, don't!" The rosette's hand was slapped down by the kunoichi of the group, who flung a kunai at the kankerlot for her.

"What are you doing?"

"The last time you used your Energy Field, well-" She interrupted herself to flip and dodge an enemy laser.

"Right," Aelita responded softly, stepping behind Hinata.

A grunt and a sabre slash later, another kankerlot was down. Three lasers from the remaining X.A.N.A. minions shot forward at the group, who managed to evade all but one, which was absorbed and sent back by a fan. The creature scuttled to the side, and the reflected blast was a near miss.

"Laser Arrow!" Two gleaming arrows in succession flew at the kankerlots, which were quick to explode. Now without opposition, the Lyoko warriors charged forward again.

* * *

A building block of the desk barricade, behind which the class was sheltering, creaked and split in half due to its breach in defense a few minutes ago. The ring of ice, ever rapidly rotating, continued to thrash at Kiba.

"So you like spinning and attacking, huh? Well, two can play at that game!" His left hand wrapped around himself backward to finger through his shuriken pouch.

* * *

"Get ready, you're about to run into a few monsters!"

"Got it." The group of five continued toward their goal without slowing down. The pair of monsters before them brought them to a halt at last.

"Jeremy, what're those?" Two new monsters were staring down the quintet. They were built like jaguars, with four legs and a long tail. Their heads were featureless save for the Eye of X.A.N.A. on its skull and two piercing red eyes.

"I don't know; I haven't seen them before," Jeremy responded, adjusting his earpiece.

The leader of the duo leaned forward a bit, and his eyes started to glow. Aelita's hand slowly lifted, a pink orb starting to form.

"Aelita, what are you doing?!"

"I'm not doing anything! I just-" The Energy Field exploded in front of her, sending flying pink bits at everything in sight.

"Ah!" The warriors ducked out of the way of the lethal shrapnel, and there was a soft thud as Aelita collapsed.

"No! Aelita!"

* * *

_I won't be as strong without Akamaru, but I'll just have to deal with it_, thought the Lyoko warrior remaining in the classroom under siege as he bit into what he had removed from his pocket earlier.

"Beast Mimicry!"

* * *

"Ulrich, hang on!" Jeremy instructed urgently, typing as he did so.

"What do you think I'm doing?!" the brunette growled, his grip tightening on his sabre, which was thrust into the underside of the icy overhang.

"Okay, I've launched the program. You can let go." Ulrich did so, plummeting into the gaping empty hole where part of the digital sea was moments ago.

"Next time you use Supersprint, try not to run off a cliff!"

"Odd!" Ulrich disappeared as the sea filled in above him.

"All right, Hinata, these guys are up to you. Odd, Yumi, you'll stay with Aelita and escort her to the tower!" Odd sounded an energetic "Hm!" of approval and stepped onto the newly-virtualized Overboard while Yumi boarded the Overwing, making sure Aelita was safely in the Overpod. "All right, this distance maneuvering program worked when X.A.N.A. got to it, so..." A window popped up onscreen with a skeleton of the Overpod and a few statistics.

* * *

The icy ring was surprisingly whirling around as quickly as its opponent. _I'm not getting anywhere_, thought the genin. Then a shiny gleam from the boy's competitor gave it away.  
_Or am I?_"Oh, no," Jeremy muttered, eyeing the red shape on the scanner. "Trouble's coming, guys; get ready." The three Lyoko warriors, with Hinata and Ulrich lagging behind, surged forward toward the tower.

* * *

"That's definitely trouble!" A familiar X.A.N.A.-fied face smirked.

"William!"

* * *

"Rrrgh!" With a grunt, Kiba whorled forward at the creature once again, which matched his pace.  
_Now to slow down a little!_"Huh!" A fan shot toward the boy, who swung his gargantuan sword to the side, easily sending the projectile flying away. "Ungh!" William tensed, obviously unprepared for the fan now in his back.

* * *

The ring of ice slowed down as well, matching pace with its opponent.  
_And speed up!_

* * *

"Supersprint!" Leaving a trail of yellow behind him, Ulrich surged forward, hurriedly escorting a still-out-of-it Aelita into the activated tower.

* * *

The sufficiently smaller icicles stopped spinning, deciding to be obliterated by the friction as the rest of it had. The remainder dripped to the ground.

* * *

"Aelita! Can you hear me? Aelita!" The pink-haired girl was still unaware and unconscious on the tower's bottom level.

* * *

A panting Kiba flipped backward for a landing, steering clear of the puddle in the middle of the classroom.

Thuk!

* * *

"Good, you're up, now hurry!"

"Right!" The rosette tilted back and slowly ascended.

* * *

"What the-?!" Suddenly, an array of freezing spikes descended into the classroom. "Aaagh!"

* * *

A ping echoed in the chamber as Aelita's foot made contact with the edge of the next level. She walked toward the center.

* * *

With a grunt of pain, the Inuzuka pulled the large spike from his stomach, which by now was bleeding badly. He sat up as the teacher, fretting about the injury, rushed forward.

* * *

The word "Aelita" flashed on the interface as the girl took her hand away from it. Then "Code" appeared.

* * *

With a bloody cough, the genin collapsed forward.

* * *

Aelita entered "Lyoko".

"Tower deactivated."

"Return to the past now!" The clack of the enter button launched a white orb that spread indefinitely.

* * *

"That was way too close," Kiba muttered, the teacher reviewing a formula on the chalkboard.

* * *

One light blue eye opened, the other following suit.

"What?" She sat up against the narrow-trunked tree. "What's going on?" She bewilderedly took in her environment, a foggy forest and a white building in the distance. The kunoichi stood up. "Shikamaru? Choji? Asuma-sensei?" She swallowed before faintly continuing, "Anyone?"

"Ino?" The blonde's head snapped to the side.

"Choji, is that you?" she asked.

"Yeah," came the response as a figure drew closer.

"What happened; where are we?" Ino asked nervously.

"I don't know..."


	39. Merry Xmas

**A/N**: lol. My favorite parts always involve annyoing Shikamaru. xD (Hopefully these guys celebrate Christmas... *is too lazy to do research beyond Wikipedia*) Well, review if you like, as always. Hope to hear you likin' it. :)

Yumi sat up in her small bed and stretched. Once the covers were off her, the freezing cold from made her shiver.

"Rise and shine, Yumi!" came her mother's voice from outside her room.

"I'm up," Yumi responded, pushing off the remainder of the covers and getting up from her bed.

* * *

"Good morning, Jeremy!"

"Morning, Dad," the blonde called back sleepily.

Jeremy's father opened the bedroom door a bit more. "You ready to open your Christmas presents? We'd better get started or we won't be able to set up the party for your friends in time!"

"Oh, right." Jeremy pushed some of his covers aside. "What time is it now?"

"9:00."

* * *

"Are you still asleep?" Lee asked quietly.

"Yes." Shikamaru flopped over in his dorm bed.

"Hey! If you are awake, you might as well get out of bed!"

The chunin rolled over, turning his back to his roommate. "I just said I'm asleep."

* * *

"Oh! Merry Christmas, Aelita!" commented Hinata as the rosette sat up and yawned.

"Mmm-hmm, merry Christmas," she responded, turning to look at the alarm clock. "When was Jeremy's party again?"

"It's at eleven."

"Okay, I'll get ready, then."

* * *

"Thanks so much! I'd wanted this for a long time!" Jeremy exclaimed at the shiny piece of technology.

"I thought you'd like it," Michel Belpouis responded with a chuckle.

* * *

"Thanks, it's great," Ulrich said, not even attempting to feign exitement. He slowly whirled the new soccer ball around in his hand and got ready for his Dad's sure-to-come lecture.

* * *

"Dad, this is beautiful, thanks!" Yumi carefully fingered the landscaped sensu.

Her father smiled and turned to Mrs. Ishiyama. "And for your present..." he started.

Hiroki fidgeted, having not recieved his present yet.

* * *

"Whoo-hoo!" Odd yelled, thrusting his arms into the air in celebration of recieving a brand new video game.

"Why don't you open it?" one of his sisters prodded.

"Yeah, why don't you open it?" Pauline supported.

"Umm..." Odd turned the case upside down, and a plume of grey smoke instantly shot toward his face. Coughing, he opened it. "No fair!" he shouted at the empty case, throwing it to the ground as all five of his sisters broke out in laughter.

* * *

"All right, I'll go get the decorations out of the closet; you clean up," Mr. Belpouis instructed, standing up.

"All right," Jeremy responded, picking up a piece of wrapping off the ground near the already decorated Christmas tree.

* * *

"Will you get out of that bed already?!" the green-clad genin shouted, pulling on his roommate's legs. Shikamaru said nothing and groggily clung to his mattress.

* * *

"I think..." Ino shivered. "I think it's some sort of school."

"Yeah, looks like it," her teammate agreed, his breath visible in the cold.

"C'mon, let's go inside; I'm f-freezing!"

* * *

"...And I think the banner would look good here; what do you say?" Michel suggested, holding up a red-and-green banner beside a doorway.

"Yes, that should work," his son responded.

* * *

"Yes!" Odd shouted at a real video game from his parents.

* * *

"Get up or we are going to be late!"

"Okay! Okay! Just stop before you rip my legs off!"

Lee let go, and Shikamaru 's legs flopped down. "What time is it?" he mumbled, standing up.

"10:25."

* * *

"You're lucky I'm letting you go in the first place!" Ulrich sighed. "I know, I know..."

* * *

"What's in this room?" Ino flicked the light switch on and walked inside. "Ino, why are we walking around this place, anyway? We might get in trou-"

"We're walking around to see if we can find any clues to why we're here! Now get in here and help me!" The blonde slid open a drawer.

* * *

"...And should I put the mistletoe here, or...?"

"Dad! We don't need mistletoe!" Jeremy set a giant red present box with green ribbon on the ground.

"Are you sure?"

"Y-Yes, I'm sure!"

"Okay, then." Michel took the plant off the doorframe ledge and quickly hid it on the other side before his now-blushing son could see him.

* * *

"All right, have fun, Yumi! Do you have everything you need?"

"Yup, everything!"

"Okay, have a good time, sweetie!"

"I will!"

* * *

"Oh! Aelita, do you need help with that?"

The uppermost present on the mentioned rosette's gift stack wavered. "No, I've got it," she replied, slowly stepping forward. The top two presents slid to the edge of the stack, and Hinata rushed forward to stop them from falling.

* * *

_Ding-dong!_

"Jeremy, will you get that? I'm almost finished here."

"All right." The bespectacled blonde adjusted the pile of decorative gift boxes quickly before answering the door.

"Hey, Jeremy! Merry Christmas," Ulrich greeted, entering the house once his friend had stepped back.

"Merry Christmas to you, too, Ulrich."

* * *

"Have fun, Odd!"

"I will, bye!"

* * *

"Hey, Choji, come look at this!"

Ino's teammate dashed over. "What is it?"

"Look, this test has Shikamaru's name on it!"

Choji looked over the document. "But all of the work's done. Maybe it's someone else named Shikamaru?"

"No, it's his handwriting... I wonder what's going on..."

* * *

_Ding-dong!_ Jeremy, Ulrich, and Yumi went up to the door and let Aelita and Hinata in.

"Wa-whoa!" Before she could stop them, Aelita's presents toppled over, thunking on the tile floor.

* * *

"You finish up; I am going to go ahead to Jeremy's party."

"Yeah, go ahead."

"All right." After taking a moment to gather the gifts, Lee took off for Jeremy's house.

* * *

"Naw, I'm sure he won't mind."

"Arf!"

"What are you so worried about? I'm sure his family's fine with dogs, too. C'mon, let's go."

* * *

_Ding-dong!_ Jeremy opened his front door.

"Morning, Einstein!"

"Morning, Odd. Merry Christmas!"

"Yeah, Merry Christmas."

Just as Jeremy started to close the door again, a bandanged hand from outside kept it open.

"Merry Christmas, Jeremy!"

* * *

"Down this street...Okay, that must be it!" Kiba and his companion stopped before their bespectacled friend's house. The brunette walked up and rang the doorbell. The glass door opened with a creak.

"Merry Christmas!"

* * *

"Maybe it's some sort of infiltration/spying mission?"

"Could be. But...we must have been caught or ran into a trap or something. I mean, why else would we not remember anything?"

"That's probably right. But where's Shikamaru?"

"We must have been split up! We got caught, but he didn't!"

"Yeah, that must be it. But why do none of these tests have our names on them?"

"Because they were taken after we got caught!"

"Uh, right."

* * *

"Wow, thanks!" Jeremy paused. "How did you get the money for this, anyway?"

"Oh, I raked leaves and shoveled snow on the weekends," Lee clarified.

_Ding-dong!_

"I'll get it. Must be Shikamaru." The door opened, and the mentioned chunin walked inside.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas."

* * *

"Let's try this room," Ino suggested when the two had gone back to the hallway.

"All right." The genins' footsteps echoed through the unlit corridor.

* * *

"All right, everyone, we have snacks on the long table in here, so come on in and eat something!" Michel said, waving the guests into the kitchen area. The Lyoko warriors paused to organize their presents, all opened, and soon started conversing as they approached the snack table.

"...Track tryouts're Thursday when we go back, right?"

"Hmm... Yes, I think so."

"Are you trying out?"

"No, Jim said I would be automatically on the team if I wanted to join."

"Ha ha, yeah, that makes sense."

"...Seriously do that?"

"Yes!"

"Geez, they lock you in the bathroom, and now this?"

"...Pretty good!"

"Yeah, salami or something, I guess."

"...Energy Field? Oh, you don't have to worry about that anymore; I finally debugged it."

"That's great! So those new monsters won't have much to do anymore, huh?"

"Doesn't seem like..." Jeremy trailed off at the chorus of snickers from his friends.

"What's so-" Aelita started, abruptly stopping as she looked up.

"Wha-?" Jeremy looked up, his face promptly turning cherry red.

His friends laughed a little harder.

"Well, Jeremy, what are you waiting for?" Odd prodded.

"Um, uh, er..." the blonde stuttered, his gaze affixed on the sprig of mistletoe on the doorsill above him.

Aelita's lips touched Jeremy's before he knew what was happening.

* * *

"I guess that's all the clues we're going to get from this place, at least until we find Shikamaru."

"Yeah, I think so. I guess we should go back outside and look around."

"All right." The brown double door soon closed behind the two as they stumbled outside.

* * *

"Uh, Jeremy? Jeremy?" Friends clustered together to scoop up their newly unconscious companion. Aelita let out a stifled giggle, her fingertips somewhat attempting to cover her mouth.

"Where'd his dad go, anyway?" Ulrich questioned with a grunt,repositioning Jeremy on a large red chair with Odd's help.

"Who knows?"

"Maybe he went to get a videocamera?"

"If he did, he missed his shot." Once Jeremy was safely in the upholstery, his friends positioned themselves around the Christmas tree.

"He... is all right, isn't he?" Aelita started, worry in her voice.

"Yeah, he just fainted. He should be back soon," replied Shikamaru.

* * *

A white fog darkened to red around a Forest Sector tower as X.A.N.A. seized control.


	40. Confusion

"Welcome back, Einstein!" Odd greeted as his bespectacled friend regained consciousness.

"Bwa..." He sat up once he realized he was in a chair.

Aelita angled her gaze to the side as Jeremy suddenly remembered what had just happened, his face reddened in a second.

_Ding! Ding! Ding!_

The Lyoko crew's attention slowly turned to the Christmas tree, the source of the sound.

"What the?"

_Ding! Ding! Dingdingdingdi_- A porcelain bell ornament clattered, flying off the shaking pine.

"Whoa!" Odd ducked out of the way as the decoration smashed against the back wall.

Aelita started, "Jeremy, you don't think-" She was interrupted by a chorus of clinking as the tree continued shaking, its lights blinking and flickering. A red, glittery ornament shot toward Kiba, but all it hit was a pillow, quickly jerked up to protect the former target.

"Yeah, X.A.N.A.," Jeremy responded, recovered from the earlier incident. A few warriors instinctively stood up at the name and turned to Jeremy.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Arf!"

* * *

"How about this building?"

"Hmm...I see a lot of windows; they must be rooms."

"Yeah, probably."

"Let's check it out, then." The door creaked open at Ino's hands.

* * *

"Your house is awfully far away from the factory, Jeremy!"

"And why couldn't you get your dad to drive us again?"

"I don't know where he went... I hope X.A.N.A. hasn't gotten to him!"

"Well, his attack must've been the Christmas tree, so if your dad's not even in the house, he should be all right, right?"

"Yeah, but... You never know. What if Shikamaru can't handle it?"

"Oh, come on, it's a Christmas tree."

"...Yeah, you're right."

* * *

Shikamaru sat, staring at the immobilized tree. "Hmph. Guess I just sit here until they get finished," he concluded, unaware of the trace of grey leaving the tree.

* * *

"Nope, this one's locked, too."

"Huh. I guess that's all for this floor; come on, let's move up!" The blonde led the way to the stairwell.

* * *

"We're almost there, I swear."

"Hopefully."

"Yeah."

* * *

Footsteps sounded behind the chunin, not going unnoticed.

"Hmm?" Shikamaru tilted his head just enough to see Michel. "Oh, you're back. You missed it; Jeremy already-Ugh!" The ninja was struck unconscious by a crippling surge of electricity.

Michel's body thunked to the ground as X.A.N.A. relinquished control, choosing to go back to the tree.

* * *

Ulrich was the first to slide down a rope. Odd grabbed the other as his friend was about halfway down, Yumi on his heels. Jeremy seized the swaying rope once Ulrich had landed and was the last to join the others on the ground floor.

* * *

"I found an open door!" At the blonde's call, her teammate darted to the door. By the time he got there, Ino was already inside the room. "Well, it's definitely a dorm room..." she muttered, looking around. "And it looks like two girls room here."

"It seems kind of wrong to be going through their stuff, though."

"Listen, I respect a girl's privacy as much as the next girl, but we've got to find out what's going on!" she responded, opening a drawer in the tan desk.

* * *

"Transfer, Ulrich. Transfer, Odd. Transfer, Aelita. Scanner, Ulrich. Scanner, Odd. Scanner, Aelita. Virtualization! Transfer, Yumi. Transfer, Hinata. Transfer, Lee. Scanner, Yumi. Scanner, Hinata. Scanner, Lee. Virtualization!" Jeremy spun around in his chair to face Kiba. "Thanks for staying behind. I still feel a little suspicious X.A.N.A. could get to us."

"Don't worry, we'll make sure nothing happens. Right, Akamaru?"

"Arf!"

Jeremy nodded curtly and spun back around. "All right, guys, the tower's due east!"

* * *

The overdecorated Christmas tree jingled ridiculously as it brushed against a street lamp pole. It rushed into the factory as silently as it could, still clinking a bit.

* * *

"Hey, check this out!"

"What? What is it?" Ino walked over to her teammate's location.

"I'm not sure, but it has three hand signs written down and 'Hinata' on it."

"Hinata? Like Hyuga Hinata? Let me see." Choji handed over the paper.

"Dragon, Snake, Ox," she read subconsciously. "And then her name on the bottom." She peered at the paper a moment more. "But... This is in Shikamaru's handwriting..."

* * *

"Uh-oh."

Jeremy spun around to face his guard. "What is it?"

"X.A.N.A. I can smell him," Kiba replied.

"X.A.N.A. has a smell?" Jeremy shook his head. "Where is he?"

"Just outside the factory!"

"But, then how can you t-...Oh, right."

"Jeremy!"

The blonde's attention snapped back to the computer. "Sorry, guys!"

"Yeah, well, be more careful! Odd wouldn't have been devirtualized if you gave us a heads-up!"

"Right. A swarm of hornets is coming up to your left!"

"I've got them," announced Yumi, removing her fans from their holsters. "Yah!" The spinning weapons flew toward their targets, slicing a hornet in three pieces but missing the other monsters. After two of the hornets abruptly disappeared, Ulrich leapt up and brought his sabre down, obliterating the last remaining hornet.

"Something doesn't seem right..." Hinata muttered.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, um, doesn't it seem like X.A.N.A.'s monsters haven't really been fighting as well as they usually do?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. What's up, Jeremy?"

"Nothing that I can tell...But two krabs are between here and the tower!"

* * *

"So, you think Hinata's on the same mission as us?"

"That's the only explanation!"

"Okay... But what are the three hand signs? I can't think of any jutsu that uses these."

"Hmm." Ino sat down on Aelita's bed, still browsing the thin sheet of paper.

* * *

Odd, leaning on Jeremy's chair, turned his head. "Did you guys hear anything?"

"I didn't, but..."

"Yeah. You think it's X.A.N.A.?"

"I dunno." A loud crash sounded, and Jeremy flinched.

"Jeremy?" The blonde's hand flew to his right cheek, touching the newly formed and bleeding slash. "Wha?!"

"What just-!" Odd was cut off by a very loud jingling. "Whoa!" He narrowly avoided a sparkly green ornament.

* * *

"Hey, Jeremy! What's going on out there?" Ulrich questioned as Hinata decimated the second krab.

"Well, we found X.A.N.A."

"All right, we'll get a move on, then!" Yumi led the group for a few paces.

"What the-? Okay, guys, looks like X.A.N.A. was planning on you getting this far!"

"What are we up against?"

"Well, two tarantulas, four krabs, a-wait! No, six krabs, and three tarantulas! And some hornets, and... I don't get it! The ranks keep increasing!"

* * *

"It must be a jutsu we need to use!" The blonde threw the paper back toward the bed, to which it floated. "All right, then, how about we try it?"

"Um, okay..."

* * *

"What's going on?! Maybe my-" Jeremy was interrupted by a loudly crashing decoration that just managed to crack a screen. "Ahem, maybe my monster scanner isn't working, but..." He glanced behind him nervously. Odd had grabbed a metal pole and was knocking off ornaments before X.A.N.A. could sling them, Kiba doing the same but with his now-elongated fingernails.

* * *

"Nope, nothing here, either."

"Ugh! Then what the heck is this stupid jutsu?"

"Maybe it's not a jutsu after all."

"Then why did he write down just random hand signs? No, we just can't perform it for some reason!"

* * *

"There!" Kiba panted. "That's all of them." Every possible weapon the tree could have used was now in shattered pieces on the floor of the control room.

"Something's definitely wrong!"

"Jeremy, you okay?"

"Huh?" The blonde snapped his head around, apparently forgetting that there were other people in the control room with him. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine." He turned back to the computer screens. "It's just... Either something's wrong with the monster scanner, or X.A.N.A. has figured out a way to make a ton of monsters at once!"

* * *

"Hm, well, it is for Hinata, so maybe it has something to do with Byakugan?"

"Of course! That must be it!" The girl paused. "But, then, why is it in Shikamaru's handwriting?"

* * *

"All right, guys, you're almost there. Just watch out; there might be as many as thirty monsters ahead of you!"

"Thirty?! But how?"

"I don't know-" Jeremy was cut off by a large crash.

"Jeremy?"

* * *

"Ugh! This makes no sense!" the blonde yelled, throwing the paper down to the bed.

"I know; it's weird..."


	41. Under Fire

**A/N:** Important notice! This is the last chapter of the part I have finished. Updates are going to slow down from here, but we're close to the ending... *gigagasp* But, there are still chapters to come... Review if you like!

"You weren't kidding!" Before the Lyoko warriors stood several krabs, hornets, tarantulas, kankerlots, and two megatanks.

"No, I wasn't."

"Jeremy, are you all right?"

"Uh-huh."

"He just got a free haircut, courtesy of X.A.N.A., that's all!"

"But didn't you guys already smash all of the ornaments?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Whoa!" A few shards of ornament hovered for a moment, then flew once again toward Jeremy.

"Jeremy, to your right!" The bespectacled blonde turned his head just enough to see the shards flying toward him.

* * *

"Hey, can I look at it again?"

"Huh? Sure." Ino picked up the slip of paper and handed it to her teammate.

"Hmm..."

* * *

There was a large crash as Jeremy's glasses shattered against the ground after tumbling off the computer keyboard.

"Ow!" The blonde grasped the right side of his face, now beginning to bleed badly.

"Jeremy!" His off-of-Lyoko friends rushed to his aid.

"Aagh!"

"Jeremy, what's wrong?" Aelita took the time to question, concerned, though a moment later, she had to spin around to destroy a kankerlot.

"He's all right," Kiba assured, "but Odd's getting him away from here."

"Why? What happened?"

"Nothing to worry about. Just a few pretty bad scratches."

"All right, if you say so." Aelita jumped out of the way of a krab's laser. "But," she started, "do you really think you can run things from out there?"

"Not sure," he replied, "but I should at least know enough to get by."

"All right, then."

* * *

"See? It makes no sense!"

"Yeah, but..." Choji peered closer at the paper. "Doesn't it look like there's a bigger space between these two?" He pointed at the Snake and Ox printed on the paper.

"Yeah, you're right!" Ino responded after examing the slip. "So, you think..."

"A hand sign is missing."

* * *

Ten more monsters abruptly exploded, another two taken by Yumi's fans. "You know, Lee," she panted, "you don't really have to hold back today. I wouldn't mind letting you have all the monsters." A few kankerlots disappeared.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, go ahead!"

"All right!" X.A.N.A.'s minions kept exploding left and right, but no matter how many were taken out, more kept appearing.

"Two more monsters coming at you!" Kiba warned as two hornets flew into the scene.

"Where are all of these monsters coming from?" Aelita questioned, exasperated.

"I don't know, just around the area. Oh, and one more monster's coming-looks like a big one!"

"Got it!" Yumi looked around, expecting a tarantula, but what she saw startled her.

"What is that?!" Ulrich exclaimed, jumping atop a krab to stab it.

The new monster was about as tall as a krab, but cylinder-shaped and thick, with four stubby black legs. Its Eye of X.A.N.A. was on top of the upholstery-looking pelt.

"Whatever it is, we'd better get rid of i-" Yumi stopped, sharply turning to face the new monster as it sprung into the air. It landed with a hard thud, and a pink ripple flew out from under it.

"Jeremy, what- Oh, right," Aelita, atop a tarantula, muttered.

* * *

"I think we finally lost them!" Odd commented through the wind after a quick glance back. None of the shards were in sight.

"Good," Jeremy mumbled, wiping the last bit of blood from his face. "But we'd better go further. I'm sure X.A.N.A. won't give up that easily."

"Okay."

* * *

"Yumi! What happened?" After his krab exploded, Ulrich leapt to the ground. "Yumi!" The girl was frozen in place and gave no response.

"More, uh, hornets coming your way!"

"What's wrong with Yumi?" Hinata joined the group.

"Maybe it's that paralyzation virus Shikamaru was talking about!" Kiba suggested.

"That must be it!"

"Hey, over there!" Ulrich pointed to his right. "Looks like it got Lee, too."

* * *

"Of course! It all makes sense, then!"

"Yeah, and-"

"But I wonder what it's for?"

"Well, maybe-"

"I know! We'll wait here until Hinata or Shikamaru gets back! How's that?"

The brunette looked at his companion for a moment. "Yeah, that's what I was about to say..."

* * *

"This is worse than ridiculous!" Another few krabs entered the scene.

"Well, what are we going to do about it?"

"We're definitely not going to be able to hack anything without Jeremy or Shikamaru at the controls...So that's out of the picture."

"Hey, Aelita!"

"What is it, Kiba?"

"Why don't you use those wings of yours?"

"That might work, but the monsters..."

"...Won't be able to shoot straight up, right?"

* * *

_Clink!_ Jeremy jumped.

"Relax, Einstein, it's just a lamp pole."

"Right, well...Let's keep go-" The blonde suddenly crumpled to the ground.

"Jeremy!"

* * *

"All right, so we'll take care of the hornets and tarantulas, and you get going!"

"Got it!" Aelita closed her eyes for a moment, and her energy wings unfurled. She shot up into the air before any laser fire could get to her, heading straight for the tower.

* * *

"Jeremy! Are you okay?" Odd helped his friend back to his feet.

"Yeah, I think so."

"What the heck happened?"

Jeremy sighed. "X.A.N.A.'s back," he replied, wiping the blood off of the side of his neck.

* * *

"Aah!" One hornet managed to clip Aelita's foot with a beam.

"Keep going!"

* * *

_Shing!_

"Ow! What the heck?" Odd shook his hand, sending droplets of blood toward the lamp pole. He looked around for a moment, then abruptly stopped.

"What the-?!"

* * *

A bluish ripple, emnating from where Aelita entered, appeared on the tower.

* * *

A large lineup of broken, shining shards were gathered behind the two blondes.

"Jeremy, you might want to turn around..."

* * *

The blue-white rings lit up one by one as Aelita stepped to the center of the tower.

* * *

"He's going to slice us to ribbons," Jeremy whispered.

* * *

The rosette tilted her head back and slowly floated up to the tower's next level.

* * *

The shards organized themselves in three distinct groups, one smaller than the others. The other two groups immediately surged forward.

* * *

The floor glowed as Aelita's foot touched its surface.

* * *

Odd dodged, pulling Jeremy with him, but the shards rearranged and shot toward the two at all angles.

* * *

A blue interface appeared, on which Aelita placed her hand.

* * *

"Aagh!" Sleeves and pant legs tore as the lethal ornaments sliced through.

* * *

The interface flashed her name, which was replaced by the word "code". She entered "Lyoko".

"Tower deactivated."

* * *

The two boys were crumpled on the ground, hardly able to move.

* * *

"All right, return to the past!" Kiba typed a sequence and pressed enter.

* * *

"Yep, I'm all right. Yep, the party's still on. Okay, see you tomorrow!" Jeremy disconnected.


	42. Under Construction

**A/N: **Once again, chapter updates are slowing down... But we are coming closer to the end... Things are about to get pretty chaotic. :D Review if you like!

"Geez, winter break is over already?" Ulrich watched a brown liquid with the consistency of coffee pour into the vending machine cup.

"Yeah, sure hasn't been long, has it?"

* * *

"This isn't working! Is the mission already over or something?!"

"Maybe they've been captured, too?"

"I sure hope not," Ino sighed.

* * *

"Um, thank you again for letting me stay at your house, Yumi..."

"Don't worry about it."

"I'm going to my dorm for books, then."

"Okay, let's go." Aelita started toward the dormitories.

"Are you coming, Hinata?"

"Right!" She scurried after her friend.

* * *

"Uh-huh."

The brunette jerked his head toward the door. "Did you hear that?" he whispered.

"Yeah; someone's here!"

"Should we hide, or-"

"No!"

As the footsteps grew closer, Ino opened the door.

"Mmm-hmm, he probably..." Aelita trailed off as she approached her room.

"Ino!" Hinata gasped. "Choji! What are you doing here?"

* * *

"I'm going to grab my stuff, then."

"Alright, see you, Ulrich."

"Odd, you coming?"

"In a minute."

* * *

"I still don't get how you could save enough to get a hotel room for a week," Shikamaru said as he led the way onto campus.

"Well, a lot of people will pay to get their leaves raked or their snow shoveled."

"Yeah, but this isn't really a one-star hotel."

"Well, I got paid quite a bit, and there were several houses. I visited some more than once."

"All on the weekends?"

"Most of them, yes, but I managed a neighborhood or two after school."

"Oh, yeah, so that's what, a house a day?"

"No, I meant a neighborhood or two a day."

"Okay... Well, let's get to our dorm."

"Right!"

* * *

"You don't know?" echoed Hinata.

"No. All we could figure out is that you and Shikamaru are here."

"Are we on a mission? I know we got our memories erased, so if we are, we got caught! Right?"

"Um... Actually, we're not on a mission at all."

"Then... What are we doing here?"

"And why can't we remember anything?" Ino added.

"Um, it's the effect of some sort of jutsu. I don't really know what it is..."

"Hinata?" Aelita interrupted. "We're going to be late for class if we wait any longer. If this can wait..."

"Oh, right." Hinata turned to the others from her home. "Do you mind?"

"Uh..."

"Yeah, I guess it's all right..." Ino sighed.

"Could we tag along?" Choji suggested. Hinata turned to Aelita.

"Well," the pink-haired girl started, "there is a shadowing program for students who want to come to Kadic, I think. You could probably say you're participating in that."

"Sounds good!" Ino responded with a clap. "Let's go."

* * *

"Well, I'm glad you two are interested in Kadic," the teacher said with a smile. "We have some empty seats to the right side of the classroom if you'd like to sit there."

"Thank you very much, ma'am," Ino replied cordially.

"Could our friends sit with us today?" Choji asked.

"That would be fine." Ino and Choji seated themselves, Hinata and Aelita moving their books over to their desks for today.

"So, what's going on?" Ino whispered to Hinata as the teacher instructed the class to get out their homework.

"Well, there's this ninja with grey hair. He-"

"Hinata! Don't interrupt the lesson!" the teacher interjected before returning to the current grammar study.

"I'll write it down," Hinata whispered, turning back toward the front of the classroom.

* * *

The bell rang, and the students filed out of the classroom for lunch.

"So, that's everything we know about it, huh?" Ino asked.

"Mmm-hmm, I'm afraid so."

"And we're sure no one knows the last hand sign?" Choji added.

"Well, Lee might, but the return-" She stopped herself, glancing at Aelita.

"The return what?"

Aelita sighed. "The return to the past. It sends everyone back a day and wipes their memories," she elaborated, not revealing any more than she thought she needed to, though she understood little about the ninjas' predicament.

"Okay... And what did it do?"

"Well, his memory was wiped at the same time he had the nightmare, so there's something wrong with it," Hinata explained. "He's still trying to recall what happened, but... We're not sure if he will."

" 'Kay. That makes sense, I guess," Ino replied, still not sure about the return idea.

"But when you have the nightmare, maybe you'll remember something..."

"Guess we'll just have to wait and see," concluded Choji.

* * *

The white cloud around the tower in the mountain sector slowly darkened to crimson.

* * *

"Looks like X.A.N.A.'s back at it," Jeremy sighed, putting his laptop back up as the others at his lunch table stood. Hinata and Aelita were just seating themselves, Ino and Choji behind them.

"What are you two doing here?" Kiba asked with surprise, unsure if he should stay or run off to the factory.

"Dunno."

"Ino? Choji?" Shikamaru arrived behind them with a tray.

"We have a situation here," Jeremy muttered, looking around at the Lyoko crew.

"We'll just take the six of us," Aelita whispered. "They can catch up if they need to."

"Right. Guys?" Jeremy turned back toward the rest of his friends, but the original Lyoko warriors were already headed for the door.

* * *

"Transfer, Ulrich! Transfer, Odd! Transfer, Aelita! Scanner, Ulrich! Scanner, Odd! Scanner, Aelita! Virtualization." The three appeared on Lyoko, Yumi arriving shortly after. "The tower's north-northwest, and a while away from here. I'll virtualize your vehicles." After a few seconds of Jeremy's typing, the Overboard, Overbike, and Overwing appeared. "There's a swarm of hornets coming up," Jeremy warned.

"We're on it."

* * *

"Well, at least we managed to show up in the same dimension or whatever," Shikamaru said.

"Yeah," Ino replied. Suddenly, the cafeteria doors opened with a loud slam. The ninja turned to see what was going on.

* * *

"Laser Arrow!" The last of the hornets exploded, but a new, massive cluster of krabs appeared nearby.

"How is X.A.N.A. doing this?" Aelita muttered.

"I don't know," Jeremy sighed, "but I'll keep trying to figure it out."

* * *

A small crane was just outside the unhinged double doors, swinging its large wrecking ball back at the building.

"What they heck is it doing?"

"What if it hits us?!"

"Okay, okay, calm down everyone," interjected a cafeteria worker. "I'll go talk to him and see what's wrong."

"Wait!

The lunch lady turned around. "Yes, what is it, Mister, uh, Innzuka?"

"Well, uh, there's this..." He tried to figure out an excuse without mentioning X.A.N.A.

"What he's trying to say," Shikamaru interjected, "is, you should probably stay out of the way while the crane's swinging that around. No use in getting yourself hurt." He got out his cell phone. "I'll just call the company."

* * *

"Yes, we could definitely use your help," Jeremy replied wearily. "I'm not sure if we can handle all of these monsters. Send Lee for sure."

"Got it."

"All right, guys," Jeremy started, closing the calling window, "help's on the way. Just try to hold your own for now."

"We're doing our best," Yumi replied, absorbing one of the tarantula's lasers with a fan.

* * *

"It's an electrical problem," Shikamaru announced truthfully, closing his cell phone. Hinata, Kiba, and Lee looked at him expectantly. "A worker's coming, but we'll have to show him the way." He took a step toward the gaping hole that was once the front door.

"Should we come?" Choji asked, knowing there was more to the story than his teammate was letting on.

"No. Just make sure no one gets hurt," Shikamaru replied, leading the remaining Lyoko warriors toward the former doors.


	43. Wrecking Crew

A/N: *evil laughter* The chaos is about to begin... :3 Review if you like!

"It's an electrical problem," Shikamaru announced truthfully, closing his cell phone. Hinata, Kiba, and Lee looked at him expectantly. "A worker's coming, but we'll have to show him the way." He took a step toward the gaping hole that was once the front door.

"Should we come?" Choji asked, knowing there was more to the story than his teammate was letting on.

"No. Just make sure no one gets hurt," Shikamaru replied, leading the remaining Lyoko warriors toward the former doors.

* * *

"Yes, Shiraga, what is it?" The grey-haired ninja stepped forward in the darkness.

"I believe I've come upon a... problem with the current mission, Lord Orochimaru," Shiraga replied quietly.

"What kind of problem?"

"I can't quite say for sure, but... It seems I've created a serious imbalance in the worlds."

* * *

"Ulrich, no!" Jeremy watched helplessly as Ulrich's virtual form unraveled. The brunette appeared in the computer room a few moments later.

"Are you sure the backup's on the way, Jeremy?"

"Well, Shikamaru was the one to call me... Unless X.A.N.A.'s figured out a way to create a polymorph with a voice..." He shook his head. "I'll call him again."

* * *

"Ugh!" Shikamaru slammed against the wall.

_Ring! Ring!_ He reached for his phone, but the wrecking ball was coming toward him again, much faster than physics should have allowed.

* * *

"Careful, Yumi! One more hit and you're done for!"

"I'm trying!" the girl yelled back, sending one of her fans at a tarantula.

"Where's Lee and the others?" Odd called, dropping down on all fours to dodge a series of laser fire.

"I don't know! Shikamaru didn't answer his phone, so I'll try Lee's."

* * *

"Did it... really just knock him out?" Ino peered through the gaping hole, trying to find exactly where the crane had gone.

"Sounded like it." Choji looked around. "Well, it doesn't look like anyone here is in danger..."

"You're right. Let's go give them some help!"

* * *

"Okay, forget about attacking!" Jeremy announced. "There's no way you three can take all of them, especially if they keep coming. Just keep all your shields up, run for the tower, and whatever you do, don't get devirtualized!"

"Got it!"

* * *

"Imbalance?" Orochimaru echoed slowly. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"I'm afraid the high amount of souls you've assigned me to send away was too much."

"So what?" another suddenly interjected. "If it doesn't concern us, this is all just a waste of training time."

"But it does concern us, Sasuke," Shiraga replied solemnly. "Or, if it doesn't now, it soon will."

* * *

"Y-Yes," Hinata stuttered, "we're on our way, but X.A.N.A. managed to knock Lee out with the wrecking ball..."

"Well, thanks for the update," Jeremy sighed. "Try to hurry if you can."

"Right!" Hinata closed her cell phone just in time to jump out of the wrecking ball's path.

"Expansion Jutsu!"

* * *

Yumi absorbed yet another blast with her fans, barely managing to keep her grip. "What's taking them so long, Jeremy?" she asked, turning to deflect another attack.

"Well," Jeremy sighed, "it looks like things are pretty bad back there. And you can count out Lee; he got knocked out."

"Seriously?!"

"I'm afraid so."

* * *

Just as Choji started to make a dent in the side of the crane, it flickered, and he spun right through, crashing into a tree trunk.

"What the?"

* * *

"And more good news," Jeremy sighed. "Count on seeing William when you get to the tower."

* * *

"Is there a person in there?" Ino called.

"Not exactly," Kiba grunted, narrowly avoiding collision with X.A.N.A.'s new toy.

"Um, everyone? Shouldn't we try to get closer to the factory?"

"It's not that easy!"

* * *

"This is impossible," muttered Jeremy. "How in the world is X.A.N.A. doing this?"

"Jeremy?"

"Yes, Aelita?" He leaned back toward the controls.

"This may sound crazy, but... Do you think you could recreate the Marabounta?"

* * *

"Come on," Hinata urged. "Even if it flickers, it won't be able to get at us through all the tree branches, right?"

"Yeah, you're right," Kiba replied, ducking to avoid a hit.

"Er, should we come..?" asked Choji, plucking the last of the splinters off his arm.

"No..."

"Ah! Shikamaru, you're awake!"

"Yeah..." Shikamaru cleared his throat and stood. "Like I said earlier, just make sure no one at the school gets hurt. It probably won't bother coming after us if it can't hit us, after all."

"Okay, got it!"

* * *

"Well, I still have some of the old files here, but... I mean, after what happened last time..." Jeremy trailed off. He didn't bother to warn his friends about the new flock of hornets.

"X.A.N.A. doesn't have my memories any more, though," Aelita reminded him. "Maybe it won't try to attack me now."

"That could be true," Jeremy considered. He stopped suddenly with a sigh. "But what about William? It'd surely go after him."

* * *

"All right! It gave up," Kiba commented as he led the backup Lyoko squad through the trees.

"Yeah. I just hope Ino and Choji can handle things. I don't think I gave them enough information, but they can figure it out for themselves."

* * *

"So what do you suggest we do about it, Shiraga?" Orochimaru replied. "Surely you're not suggesting we put a halt to this mission..."

"It may be neccessary, my Lord. I've never transported this many souls without eventually returning them to their host dimensions, so I didn't know the implications of the mission."

"And what exactly happens if we don't bring them all back?" Sasuke prodded impatiently.

"It's hard to say, but if it continues at this rate... All dimensions may collide."

* * *

"Yo! Jeremy!"

The blonde whipped around. "Great, you're here! Hinata, Kiba, get down to the scanner room. Shikamaru, I think I'll need your help up here." He waited a minute, and then typed the virtualization sequence. "Transfer, Hinata! Transfer, Kiba! Scanner, Hinata! Scanner, Kiba! Virtualization."

The two ninja appeared a ways away from their comrades.

"Hurry on over there."

"Right."

* * *

"Is that so?" Orochimaru replied slowly. A wicked grin stretched across his face. "That sounds quite interesting."

* * *

"I never would have thought of that!" Jeremy exclaimed, typing another stretch of code on the Marabounta file.

"I'm sure you wouldn't have."

"Um, Jeremy?"

"Yes, what is it, Hinata?"

"Do I have any sort of shield?"

"Let me check... Yeah, all you have to say is 'shield'. It'll be a hollow hemisphere above your head."

"Okay, Jeremy. Shield!"

* * *

"How are we supposed to hit this thing?!" Ino shouted, yet another attack flying through the unharmed crane.

"Well, we're definitely not going to hit it with a normal attack, or a jutsu..."

"You don't say!"

* * *

"All right, then," Jeremy muttered, finger hovering over the enter key.

"Aw, just get on with it," Shikamaru interrupted, pushing it himself. "We've made sure it won't attack anything with a face, right?"

"Yes..." Jeremy watched nervously as a purplish-grey blob materialized.

* * *

"Choji! I have an idea. Let's lead it back to edge of the forest!"

"Okay."

* * *

"Ah! Yumi!" After failing to block just one laser, the Ishiyama was devirtualized.

"What's that?" Kiba exclaimed, seeing a mass of Marabounta engulfing one of the krabs.

"That's your calvary. Wait just a little longer, and you should be able to progress to the tower."

* * *

"All right! Just a little further!" Ino called. Choji jumped toward the trees, one of them getting knocked down by the wrecking ball. "Hah!" she grunted, flinging the kunai through the middle of the crane. The blade stuck to a tree.

* * *

"All right, hurry!"

Odd was the first to jump over the last bits of tarantula toward the tower, followed by Aelita, Kiba, and lastly, Hinata.

* * *

The wire attaching the kunai to the paper bomb settled as the crane became tangible.

"And... now!" The bomb exploded, sending bits of yellow shrapnel everywhere.

* * *

"I'll take this guy!" Kiba announced, running straight for William.

"All right. You two escort Aelita to the tower!"

"Got it, Einstein!"

* * *

"Wha?" Even though the midsection of the crane was completely demolished, the wrecking ball whipped around, nailing the confused Ino in the back.

* * *

Aelita stepped into the tower and padded to the center of the floor.

* * *

"Ino!" Choji ran over to his crumpled teammate.

* * *

The rosette tilted her head and and rose slowly to the next plane of the tower.

* * *

"Oh, no, oh, no," the brunette muttered, trying to stop the growing pool of blood.

* * *

Aelita stepped to the center of the Eye of X.A.N.A. and placed her hand on an interface. Her name appeared.

* * *

His attempts to plug up the injury failed, and he didn't turn to see the wrecking ball coming for him.

* * *

The word "Code" appeared, and Aelita entered "Lyoko".

"Tower deactivated."

"Return to the past, now!"

* * *

Ulrich picked up his phone. "Yep, everything's all right here, too. Okay, good. See you tomorrow." He hung up and walked into his bathroom. The image in the mirror caught his eye.

"Huh? Why am I still in my Lyoko outfit?!"


	44. Figure It Out

"Yeah, same here," Aelita muttered, looking at her Lyoko-style sleeve as well as her roommate. "Both of us. Right. I'll call him now. Bye." She disconnected.

"Are you going to call Jeremy?" Hinata asked.

"Mmm-hmm. Hopefully he'll know what's going on. It might be related to the Marabounta," Aelita replied, dialing Jeremy's number.

* * *

Jeremy fumbled through his oversized pocket before retrieving his phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Jeremy. It seems like there's been some sort of devirtualization problem..."

"Tell me about it," Jeremy grumbled.

"What do you mean? Did someone already call you?"

"No, but... I'm in my Lyoko outfit, too."

"What?" Aelita exclaimed. "But you weren't even on Lyoko!"

"I know! I can't figure this out at all. Even if the new Marabounta screwed things up, there's no way I should have been affected!" He sighed, looking at his home computer screen blankly. "I don't think this is something I could figure out..."

"Should I call Shikamaru?"

"Yeah, go ahead. I've got nothing."

"All right, then. See you tomorrow."

"Bye."

* * *

"You guys, too?" Aelita echoed.

"Yeah. I mean, we've changed out by now, but we were definitely dressed up in our Lyoko garb," Shikamaru replied, kicking at the clump of orange fabric that was his computer outfit.

"Something's definitely wrong." The line fell silent.

"Is Lyoko... a different dimension?"

"What?" Aelita sounded perplexed. "I... don't think so... Why do you ask?"

"I think I might know something about what's going on. Let's all talk about it at school tomorrow."

"Um, all right. That sounds good. I'll tell everyone we'll discuss it after breakfast?"

"Sure. See you there."

"Okay, bye."

* * *

"So, what is it? What's going on?"

"Well, first of all, I don't know exactly. I just have sort of a theory. And secondly, we should probably wait until after breakfast, like we said, so Yumi doesn't miss out."

"Yeah, Odd," Ulrich scoffed. "Oh, your ears are sticking out again."

Odd grumbled and fiddled with his tall hairdo to conceal the purple ears trying to poke through. "Oh, why couldn't Yumi show up early today?" he whined impatiently.

" 'Cause her parents would want to know what's up, and since it's right after winter break, we can't just say it's studying again," Ulrich replied, finishing off his toast.

* * *

"All right, then, that's everyone," Jeremy commented, looking over the flock of Lyoko warriors perched around the bench.

"Nice belt, Odd," Yumi snickered.

Odd put a hand over his poorly-disguised tail. "Aw, who asked you?"

"So," Yumi started, clearing her throat, "what do you think is going on?"

"Well," Shikamaru sighed, "honestly, I don't know. But there are a few puzzle pieces floating around that I don't think you guys know."

"All right... And those would be?" Jeremy responded.

"Well, first of all, I don't think we've really explained how we got here. From what I've gathered, there's some sort of ninja with gray hair going around and attacking people from our village." He paused, making sure the non-shinobi could follow him.

"Okay, wait. So there are seriously ninjas where you come from?" Odd interjected.

"Yes," Shikamaru sighed. "But apparently they're different than what you guys think ninjas are." He waited another moment, but no one else voiced confusion. "All right, so, when this grey-haired guy attacks people, he somehow sends them to a different dimension. Or, here."

"Wait," Kiba interrupted. "I know we're definitely not anywhere near Konoha, but... A different dimension?"

"I know, it sounds crazy, but it's the only way any of this can make sense."

"All right... I'll take your word for it, I guess."

"So," Shikamaru resumed, "this guy goes around, sending a bunch of people to different dimensions. I don't know exactly what his jutsu," he paused at the confused French faces, "er, technique, does, but it does have some patterns."

_Ringring!_ The class-starting bell interrupted Shikamaru's next sentence. "Well," he sighed, "I guess I'll pick it back up at lunch. I should probably check up on Ino and Choji's story, anyway."

"Ah! Those two! That's right; they'll still be waiting in our room, won't they?" Aelita exclaimed, turning toward her dorm building. "Let's get going, Hinata!"

* * *

"Lord Orochimaru!" Shiraga shouted. "Surely you're not suggesting we do nothing about this!"

"Will you shut up already?" Sasuke spat back. "You're doing nothing but wasting my time. Let's go train," he finished, nodding at his new teacher.

"This isn't a waste of time! I-"

"Come now, Shiraga," Orochimaru interrupted. "I don't believe stopping something that only stirs up some chaos for us is worth throwing away our time for..."

"But-"

"This conversation is over."

Shiraga watched helplessly as the two other ninja walked out of the room. _They don't understand any of this, he thought forlornly. They've never seen what I've seen, sensed what I've sensed... _He sighed, placing his fingertips on his forehead. _It seems some of the host-reliant dimensions have already begun to collapse._"And you're sure you've yet to remember what happened before you arrived, right?" Shikamaru finished.

* * *

"Yeah, that's right," Ino sighed. "I was hoping you'd know something, but..."

"Well, I have an idea, at least. I just thought I might be able to get some more information from you guys. And you've been hanging around a week?"

"Yup," Choji replied, looking around the lunchroom.

"Here," Shikamaru started. "You guys can come sit with us today."

* * *

"All right," Tsunade replied slowly. "And you only remembered this today, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am," Neji replied. "I can't say for sure, but it may be linked to the nightmare I had."

"Is that so? What was this nightmare?"

* * *

"So you think this... 'ninja'," Yumi started, "is what's causing all this?"

"It doesn't make any sense to me," Aelita added. "If he's never been to Lyoko, or even France, how could any of this be his fault?"

"Well, sending people to different dimensions can't be natural, or at least without sending them back. If it goes against nature, it only makes sense there would be some sort of consequence. If we consider Lyoko a different dimension than this one, it all at least works together. Now," Shikamaru continued, "I still don't know how to get us back--once Ino and Choji remember what got them here, we may have enough information to do that--but that's probably the best way to try and reconcile things."

Jeremy shook his head. "You're all crazy," he muttered, picking up his lunch tray and stepping back. "I'll get on the supercomputer after school and figure it out myself."

"All right. Tell me if you find anything promising," Shikamaru called, turning back to his meal.

* * *

"But the man was only a silhouette?" Tsunade confirmed.

"That's correct."

"Could you pick out anything about his appearance, then?"

"Well... He seemed to be of an average build, and his hair was shoulder-length," Neji said slowly.

"That may match the description of the man that Naruto fought. I'll call him in to see."

* * *

"Jeremy?" Aelita stepped into the factory. "Are you already in here?" There was no response. "Hmm. I guess he's already in the computer room, then." She grasped a rope and slid down. In a few moments, she was riding the elevator. The doors opened, and she saw Jeremy in his chair. "How are you doing, Jeremy?" she asked, stepping out of the elevator.

"Horribly," Jeremy grumbled back, blankly moving the cursor around on the computer screen to his side. "There is absolutely nothing abnormal in the system at all. Even the Marabounta hasn't had any side effects. This doesn't make any sense!" he growled, pounding his fist on an armrest.

"Well," Aelita started, "do you want to virtualize me? Maybe I can find something if I actually go to Lyoko."

"No. Even if I can't find it here, there's something wrong. I don't want to risk losing you."

"Right." Aelita shifted her feet. "Well, maybe Shikamaru was right about the dimension thing..."

"Don't tell me you're siding with him, too!" Jeremy whipped around in his chair. "Of all people, I thought you wouldn't believe that nonsense!"

"Jeremy, I really think-"

"If you're not going to help me, get out. I don't need someone else babbling this drivel at me." He turned back around.

"All right, Jeremy," Aelita sighed. "Call me if you need me for anything..."

Jeremy didn't respond.


	45. Beginnings of Collapse

**A/N:** Well, I don't own the chars that show up in this one. Don't own most of the people... *sweatdrop* Yeah. And I apologize profusely for the swear word that appears in this one. I hate swearing, but the dialogue sounded stupid without it. Read, and review if you like!

"And this was the same man who asked for your help?"

Neji nodded. "It sounds like him."

"So, wait," Naruto interrupted. "This guy just goes around teleporting people? What kind of idea is that? I mean, if they can just walk back, it's kind of stupid."

"But I didn't 'just walk back'. I had to find a specialist to send me back with some odd sort of jutsu. Wherever he's sending everyone isn't just a day's walk away."

"He's right. This is a serious problem we have to solve as soon as possible. Since we can't track down the culprit right now, the best we can do is try to unravel his jutsu."

* * *

"No, it's all right," Choji repeated, looking at the newly-built, leafy lean-to. "If you don't have spare beds, it wouldn't do us any good to sleep in your dorms, anyway."

"All right," Aelita replied doubtfully. "If you're sure you don't mind..."

"No, we'll be fine," Ino assured, though she didn't sound confident about it.

"Well, good night, then," Aelita ended, ducking out of the forest. She pulled out her cell phone and checked, but she didn't have any new calls. "Jeremy..." she sighed. _Well, I'll check on him one more time before I go to bed_, she decided, starting for the factory.

* * *

_What am I going to do?_ Shiraga wondered. _Should I continue with Lord Orochimaru's orders, or should I reject them? Am I willing to risk my life for those in the dimensions I don't care for? But will the collapse kill me and my master?_ He slumped over. _Do I even have a choice?_Aelita walked up to the lit-up supercomputer carefully. "Jeremy?" she whispered, placing a hand on the back of the chair. The bespectacled blonde was slumped over one the keyboard, asleep. Aelita chuckled. "You just never learn, do you?"

* * *

"Aah!" Ino bolted up, knocking her head on the roof of the hut. "Ow. What...?" She sat back down and looked around. "Ah! Choji! The nightmare..." She walked out of her small hut and stepped over to the neighboring one.

"Oh, you woke up, too?"

Ino stepped back as her teammate stepped into the faint morning light.

"Uh-huh. It was the nightmare Shikamaru was talking about! Maybe we can remember things now."

"Yeah. Come on, let's walk over to his dorm."

* * *

Jeremy rolled over, hitting his head on something. "Ow," he mumbled, sitting up and rubbing his head. "Hey," he started, looking around, "how did I get back in my room?"

"Aelita dragged you over," Kiba replied, pulling on his hoodie. "I'm guessing you really didn't like Shikamaru's idea?"

"It just doesn't make any sense to me," Jeremy sighed. "But I can't find anything else, so... I'll have to play along until something comes up."

* * *

"Kiwi, hush!" Odd urged, looking out the hallway door to make sure no teachers were coming.

Ulrich burst out laughing, almost drowning out the dog's barking.

"What's so funny?"

"He thinks you're a cat," Ulrich snorted.

* * *

The fog around an arctic sector's tower shook and rearranged as X.A.N.A. took control.

* * *

"Yeah, his room's in this building!" Ino called, taking the lead as she and her teammate rushed toward the complex. They dodged a few students coming out of their dorms as they climbed up the stairs.

"Shikamaru!" Ino pounded on the door.

A few long moments later, it was opened by a yawning Shikamaru. "What's up, guys?"

"We had the nightmare!" Ino replied excitedly.

"What? Really?" Shikamaru responded, looking a lot more awake. "How did you get here, then? Do you remember yet?"

"Well-" A huge crash interrupted her response as the dorm's ceiling started to crumble behind her. "Huh?" She turned around.

"What the?!" Shikamaru watched as his teammates were suddenly lifted out of the building. "Hey!" He jumped after them, but whatever invisible force was carrying them away was not affected.

* * *

"...Some say it was a tornado, but no video footage has been found. Similar incidents have occured today throughout France, which leads some to wonder exactly-" The television screen fizzled out as Yumi's living room lights flickered off.

"Ah! A blackout?"

* * *

Jeremy ran a few more feet away from the roofless dormitory before getting out his cell phone.

"Should I go ahead and run over there?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah, I'll catch up!" Jeremy called, dialing a number and starting a brisk walk toward the factory.

* * *

"What, did all the hollows just vanish off the face of the earth?" Ichigo asked.

"For all I know, they did," Rukia replied, checking her cell phone one more time. "Let's go ask Urahara if he's heard anything."

* * *

"Okay, I'll try and come, but I can't guarantee it," Yumi finished.

"All right, well, hopefully I'll see you there."

"Yeah. Bye." She hung up, stepping back into the unlit hallway. _If I just leave, Mom and Dad will be worried sick about me_, she thought. _But what excuse could I make?_"All right, everyone, calm down!" Tsunade shouted. The shinobi below her announcement place fell silent. "I know this is a difficult situation," she continued, "but we have squads out to investigate the cause. Try to remain calm. We will pin this down and reverse it as soon as possible."

* * *

Shikamaru ran after his friends and the trail of ruin the odd force created, but he was falling further and further behind. He shouted their names, but they didn't respond.

_What is going on here?_

* * *

"All right, that's just Odd, Yumi, and Shikamaru missing, then," Jeremy tallied.

"Are you sure you want to virtualize us, Jeremy?" Aelita asked. "You sounded unsure about it yesterday."

"No, I don't want to," Jeremy sighed, "but what else can I do? It's just another standard tower activation."

* * *

Kisuke led Ichigo and Rukia to the rocky room hidden in his store. "It'll be ready in just a few seconds. Remember to hurry through," he finished, stepping to the side of the gate.

"All right, Ichigo, are you ready?"

"Of course I am." The two sped through the portal.

"Hey!" Rukia started, stopping in her tracks. "This isn't... the Soul Society..."

Ichigo looked around the buildings. "Then... where are we?"

* * *

"Nothing to report on the borders," Izumo confirmed.

"All right," Tsunade sighed. "I guess we'll see what the other patrol finds when they get back. Go ahead and sweep the exterior one more time."

"Yes, ma'am," Kotetsu replied. The two exited the building.

"This is a disaster," Tsunade muttered, looking out the window. "I don't know how they've done this..." She turned back toward the door. "I'm afraid an entire village without use of ninjutsu won't stay safe for long."

* * *

"Wh-what is that?" Yumi exclaimed. A gargantuan, white, spider-like figure with a skull-like mask and a large hole centered in its chest was looming over her.

"Yumi!" The girl pivoted to see Odd turning the corner after her.

"Odd, wait! I think X.A.N.A.-Whoa!" She backflipped out of the way of the monster's sudden strike at her.

* * *

"Transfer, Aelita. Transfer, Ulrich. Transfer, Hinata. Scanner, Aelita. Scanner, Ulrich. Scanner, Hinata. Virtualization!" Jeremy paused to let his friends appear on Lyoko. "Well? Is everything all right?"

"Well, I couldn't say that, Jeremy," Aelita muttered.

"What's wrong?! Please tell me I didn't-"

"Don't worry, Jeremy," Hinata interrupted. "We made it here all right, but... everything... looks different."

"What do you mean, 'looks different'?"

"Um, everything's sort of... a grid."

"A grid?" Jeremy echoed.

"Yeah," Ulrich replied. "Everything's just made up of those warped, blue square things. Including us."

"How could that happen?" Jeremy muttered, pulling up a few windows.

"Uh, Jeremy?"

"Hang on, Kiba, I'll virtualize you guys once I've debugged this..."

"Are you sure it's a bug, Jeremy? You couldn't find anything wrong yesterday when we knew something was up," Aelita responded. "Maybe we should just go ahead to the tower if we can and see if this happens again."

"All right... Well, the tower's east of you."

* * *

"Tell me! What the hell did you do?!" Sasuke shouted, slamming Shiraga against the wall.

"I swear I-I didn't do this on purpose," Shiraga coughed, struggling to loosen the hand holding him up by the collar.

"Let him down, Sasuke," Orochimaru said, entering the room. "I believe he'll tell us what we want without us taking such measures..."

Sasuke begrudgingly let the other ninja down.

Shiraga coughed a few times before he could speak. "I think this may be a consequence of my meddling," he rasped, clearing his throat. "If we should regain our jutsu, I will go off immediately to recall those I've sent."

"And if we don't regain our jutsu?" Orochimaru asked.

"Then we've both made the worst decisions of our lives," Shiraga finished gravely.


	46. Hollow Feeling

Ino stirred. "What's going on?" she murmured, struggling to sit up. "What is this...?" She pulled at an odd chain coming from her torso.

"If that breaks, you'll die."

"Huh?" Ino looked up at the orange-haired boy standing next to her. "Who are you?"

* * *

"All right, some hornets are coming up!"

"Got it!" Ulrich pulled out a translucent sabre.

"Well, at least X.A.N.A.'s stopped the monster swarms," Aelita commented.

"It's not that much of a victory, it seems," Jeremy sighed. "But it is good news."

* * *

"I don't get it! What are you running from?" Odd yelled.

"This huge, white thing right in front of me!" Yumi shouted back, jumping away from another attack. "Are you blind?!"

"Uh, are you sure there's something there?"

"Odd! Just get over here and help me!"

"With what?!"

* * *

"Hah!" With one last kunai, the final hornet exploded into bits of blue. "It's hard to aim in this environment," Hinata murmured.

"Yeah, but I'm starting to get the hang of it," Aelita replied, looking around for any more monsters.

* * *

"Thanks, then, um..." Choji trailed off, not knowing the carrot-top's name.

"Ichigo," the boy clarified. "And don't worry about it."

Ino tapped over her heart, making sure the chain was actually gone.

"If you don't mind," Rukia started, "could you tell us where we are?"

Ino and Choji exchanged glances.

"Um, I don't know, either... I guess Shikamaru probably knows. Let's go ask him," Ino ended, starting for the Kadic campus.

"Think we oughta bother replacing their memories?" Ichigo whispered, padding after the two ninja.

"We probably should, but it can wait," Rukia replied softly. "For now, let's just figure out where we are." She halted suddenly.

"Another one's nearby, huh?" Ichigo looked after the ninja. "So? What are you going to do?" he asked, turning back to Rukia.

Rukia sighed. "Go on ahead. I'll finish this and catch up."

* * *

"Still nothing?" Tsunade echoed in disbelief.

"No. There are no signs of any foul play here."

"And there was nothing on the borders, either," the blonde muttered. "All right," she started, lacing her fingers together, "check the communication systems. If they're up, we'll see how the other villages are faring."

* * *

Yumi jumped back again, but the possessed hollow still pounded her leg into the ground. Odd rushed forward.

"Yumi! Are you okay?"

"Yeah... Unh!" She reached down to grasp her calf. Unbeknowst to Odd, X.A.N.A. reared up again to strike.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

* * *

"All right, well, it looks like you're close to the tower now. Let's see what happens."

"Right." The group of three continued as they made their way to the tower unobstructed.

* * *

X.A.N.A. flickered, and the attack passed straight through, splitting a building.

"What the- What kind of hollow is that?!"

"Hollow?" Yumi looked up at the two figures in black.

"What are you talking about, Yumi?" Odd asked confusedly, helping his friend up. "Just felt like talking to yourself?"

"No, that redheaded guy said it... The guy in the black kimono... Standing on air..." She sighed. "Maybe I should go lay down somewhere..."

"No, we're here," Rukia replied, stepping down a bit. "Your friend just can't see us, is all. We'll take care of this guy." She slid a katana from its holster. "You should try to get out of the way now."

* * *

"France, I think they said," Shikamaru replied. "But are you guys okay? What happened?"

"Uh, I think it was a tornado?" Choji replied, looking at Ino.

"That's what I remember..."

"That wasn't a tornado," Shikamaru scoffed. "Now, what really happened?"

"That was what really happened... Wasn't it?"

* * *

"Yes, ma'am. Only communications with the Sand Village are functional."

"All right, then," Tsunade replied. "Let's see how their situation is."

* * *

Aelita was almost to the tower when her foot sank into the ground. "What?" She jerked her foot back, but the depression it made continued to sink down, the diameter growing as well.

"Aelita! What's going on?" Jeremy asked. "It looks like the glacier is eating itself!"

"It... It might be," Aelita replied, taking a few more steps backward from the gaping edge of the hole.

* * *

Yumi continued to lean on Odd as the two neared the factory.

"So what exactly happened back there?" Odd asked, taking a glance behind him as if he may suddenly see X.A.N.A.'s attack.

"I don't know. I'm sure I must have been imagining some of it," she looked down at her bruised and bleeding leg, "but I'm definitely not imagining all of it."

* * *

The X.A.N.A.-fied hollow looked down at the circle below it. Suddenly, the circle shot up, crystallizing the center of the hollow and two of its legs.

"Ichigo!"

"Right!" Ichigo pulled his zanpakuto back. "Getsu-What the?"

Electricity radiated from the hollow, and its prison cell shattered.

"What kind of hollow is this?!"

* * *

The digital hole was gaping wider, and Aelita was a ways past jumping distance to the tower.

"Do you think X.A.N.A. is doing this?" the rosette asked, watching as another gridded block of ice fell into the vortex.

"I doubt it," Jeremy sighed. "I don't know what's going on at all. I wouldn't want to risk virtualizing a vehicle for that; it might get sucked in. And your wings probably aren't a good idea, either." He frowned in thought.

"Um, Jeremy?" Hinata started. "Maybe we could throw her in. Would that be fast enough?"

"Well, it sounds like the best bet to me..."

* * *

"Urgh!" Ichigo grunted as he brought up Zangetsu to block the hollow's attack. But before he could jump back, currents of electricity rushed down his sword, hitting his hand immediately. He shouted, jerking away as the current trickled up his arm. He dropped his sword.

* * *

"Well, if you hesitate any more, you definitely won't be able to throw her over!" Jeremy replied.

"Okay, then," Ulrich started. "Count of three?"

Hinata nodded.

"One... Two... Three!" They whipped around, hurling Aelita toward the skinless tower.

* * *

"So it's not just us," Tsunade muttered. "All right, then. Thank you for the update."

The Sand official nodded, and the transmission flickered out.

The Hokage sighed and took a seat. "I don't know what's going on here, but whatever it is, it's not going to end well."

* * *

"Ichigo! What happened?" Rukia exclaimed, rushing toward her friend.

"I don't know," he replied, warily catching his sword with his left hand. "Feels like jamming my hand into an electric outlet."

Rukia paused. "You've done that?"

"No!"

* * *

Aelita tumbled into the tower, thrusting her feet down to skid before she flew out the other end.

"Did you make it in okay?" Jeremy called.

"Yes, I'm fine. And it looks like the inside of the tower is, too," she replied, looking around the oddly-normal interior.

* * *

"We're gonna have to just dodge this guy," Ichigo noted, carefully moving the burnt fingers of his right hand.

X.A.N.A. swiped at the two, but they jumped back in time.

"Haku-" Rukia suddenly stopped.

"Hey, Rukia! What happened?" Ichigo's fellow soul reaper turned around, the Eye of X.A.N.A. in her pupils.

* * *

Aelita stepped to the center of the tower and tilted her head back.

* * *

Her zanpakuto back to a plain katana, the possessed Rukia slashed at Ichigo. Taken by surprise, he was cut across the stomach and sent flying.

"What the heck are you doing?!" He stood back up just in time for the hollow, no longer possessed but still hungry, to score across his back.

* * *

The rosette slowly rose to the upper level of the tower. Her foot made contact, and all the rings of the Eye of X.A.N.A. lit up.

* * *

"Rukia, it's me!" Ichigo shouted, jumping back from another swipe. X.A.N.A. made no response, however, only aiming the katana upward to slice Ichigo's chin.

* * *

Aelita stepped to the center of the tower calmly, and a bluish interface appeared in front of her.

* * *

Ichigo tumbled over, barely able to keep standing in the air. The hollow slashed upward, nailing him through the stomach, as the possessed Rukia went in for the kill.

* * *

She removed her hand, and her name appeared, soon replaced by the word "Code". She entered "Lyoko".

"Tower deactivated."

* * *

Rukia's katana had just dug into Ichigo's chest when the return wave hit, washing the image in white.

* * *

"Well, no Lyoko clothes, it looks like," Yumi replied, tugging at her usual shirt to make sure it was okay.

"Yeah. I'll go ahead and check with the others, too."

"Okay, bye, Jeremy." Yumi hung up.


	47. Blackout

**A/N:** Well, sorry for the wait, everyone. Busy with a big test, and then I had to take care of my sick uncle's dog... Who has no idea what not to chew in my house... *sweatdrop* Anywho! Herb has a random appearance. And Kitaku is the guy that's in charge (for the most part) of the disappearance investigation. Just in case you forgot him. :P

"Well, Shiraga? The jutsu have returned."

"Yes, sir, it seems that way," Shiraga replied with a curt bow. "I'll go off to find the children at once."

"Right..." Orochimaru still sounded unsure about reversing all of his so well-formulated plans.

"Well, get going, already. This had better not happen again," Sasuke warned.

"I can't promise that," Shiraga muttered, "but I will try to fix this."

* * *

The bell sounded.

"Don't forget, there's a unit test tomorrow," the teacher called over the ringing as the class packed up their things. "Have a nice day, everyone."

Jeremy shuffled through the thick line of students until everyone was finally out of the building. He headed for his dorm.

* * *

"And you're sure you didn't have any sort of nightmare?" Shikamaru confirmed.

"I'm sure," Ino responded. "A weird dream about shopping, but... Nothing like that..."

Shikamaru sighed. "Something's wrong, then," he muttered. _They remembered before the RTTP, but now..._"But no leads on your side," Tsunade echoed. "All right. Thank you for your time." The transmission flickered off.

* * *

"Well, at least we're back to normal for now," Shizune sighed.

"Yeah..."

* * *

"Yup. Desert sector. I'll meet you at the factory," Jeremy finished, hanging up his cell phone.

"Attack? Sweet," Kiba replied, slamming his history book shut. "Let's go."

* * *

Shiraga exhaled softly. _I have to track down my former targets-that should be easy; they were arranged to be easily tracked by their enrollment in the French school-and somehow convince them to trust me... _He sighed. _This won't be easy, but they should be eager to get home..._

"All right then," he muttered, forming the hand signs of his trademark jutsu, "let's do this."

* * *

Ulrich led the way down the ropes, the rest of the Lyoko crew sliding after him.

"So no one's seen anything that could be an attack yet, huh?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes, and everyone's here, too," Aelita commented. "I guess we should hurry to make sure nothing happens to us."

"Agreed."

They all hurried into the elevator, and, after dropping Jeremy off at the control room, stepped into the scanner room. Yumi, Odd, and Aelita were the first to step into the mechanical tubes, but Jeremy did not virtualize them.

"Um, Jeremy?" Aelita called loudly. "Is everything all right up there?"

"I will check," Lee offered after a moment with no response. He climbed up the ladder to the control room.

* * *

Shiraga put his right palm on his chest; even when transporting himself, some sort of physical contact was needed to control the destination. His figure faded to black. His vision cleared moments later, though, and his surroundings had changed.

* * *

"Well, of course he hasn't targeted anyone lately," a brunette shinobi scoffed, setting down his sake glass. "He didn't have any jutsu to do it."

"Yeah, Kitaku, you shouldn't be that optimistic," another added, his words slurring slightly. "He'll prob'ly come back now that he's, uh... jutsu-y again."

"But he'd stopped kidnapping people for a while now," Kitaku, the only one in the group who refused to drink, protested with a shake of his head. "I'm sure there's something else going on."

* * *

The Lyoko warriors were now gathering around Jeremy's chair, at his request.

"So, X.A.N.A. didn't attack you, right?"

"Right," Jeremy confirmed, adjusting his glasses. "Quite the contrary, in fact. The tower's deactivated."

"Deactivated?" Aelita echoed. "By itself?" On a whim, she pulled out her cell phone. It was unharmed.

"You think it's like the last time?" Ulrich asked, taking out his phone as well.

* * *

"What on earth...?" Shiraga muttered, looking around. He was surrounded by a wide field dotted with ten-foot-tall yellow flowers.

This was the wrong dimension.

* * *

"Well, I guess he hasn't tried that, then," Kiba announced. None of the crew's cell phones had been affected.

"Then... what did he do?" Hinata asked.

"I don't know..."

"Yeah, now I'm having trouble even looking at all of the towers," Jeremy muttered.

"Let me see," Aelita responded, nudging her way to the computer screen.

* * *

"...damage to the building's roof. Incidents like these have now been reported worldwide, despite their origins in France," the blonde newscaster continued. "Some have linked it to the sudden increase of natural disasters, and some have even argued that they're the works of demon-" The transmission suddenly flickered off.

"Hey, what?" Herb complained. "I was watching that."

* * *

"It's almost like the towers are just disa-" Jeremy stopped cold as all the lights shut off.

"Is he going to attack us now?" Kiba growled.

"I don't think he could," Jeremy sighed. "And then, for you all to get in the scanners, I'd have to use an alternate energy source, which is no big deal, but..."

"But what?" Ulrich prompted.

"But I don't know what's going on," Jeremy muttered. "It's almost like X.A.N.A.'s shut himself down."

"And he had to take the whole electricity grid down with him?"

"Odd, now's not the time."

* * *

Shiraga took one last look around the field before making his hand signs again. He touched his palm to his chest and disappeared from the odd dimension. _I won't be able to do this very many times_, the grey-haired ninja thought, _so hopefully I'll arrive in the correct dimension... _He opened his eyes to find himself in a cold, poorly-lit office building with a continually dripping leak from the ceiling.

"I have a bad feeling about this..."

* * *

"Yeah, this way!" The two ninja sped through the forest near Kadic.

"Are you sure about this?" Choji started. "Maybe there's a good reason he didn't want us to come after him."

"Well, he said he'd just be a minute. He could have gotten caught up in something he wasn't expecting," Ino replied, not slowing down.

* * *

"I don't want to risk it," Jeremy concluded. "If we can't find proof X.A.N.A. is attacking, then I'm not going to send you guys. If we do, well... I guess we might not have a choice."

"Well, all right..." Yumi muttered, looking over at the faint sliver of daylight reaching the room. "I guess I'll start for home, and look for anything unusual. Let me turn my cell phone back on..." She pushed a few buttons on her phone. "Huh? It's not coming on!"

"What? Did he still manage to attack?" Aelita exclaimed, checking her cell phone. It was dead as well.

"But they were working perfectly fine before the power outage!"

"So, if X.A.N.A.'s attacking, he must have possessed something that disables cell phones, right?" Odd started.

"But X.A.N.A.'s not here," Kiba responded with a sniff. "He's nowhere near here."

"You can't honestly believe," Jeremy scoffed, "something other than X.A.N.A. could have suddenly disabled our phones, do you?"

"Well, if he did, he got out of here quick!"

"Guys," Shikamaru started with a sigh, having to wait a moment before he knew the others were listening. "What if this is linked to the dimensional collapse?"


	48. Alliances

**A/N:** Sorry for the long update time, everyone. Had a nasty case of writer's block... Well, please keep reviewing! :)

"Oh, don't bring that up again!" Jeremy shouted, standing up. "I've had just about enough of your crack theory!"

"Well, have you found anything else that could explain this?!" Shikamaru countered. "X.A.N.A.'s obviously not involved this time!"

"Just because it doesn't seem like it," Jeremy snapped back, "doesn't mean he's 'obviously not involved'! He's getting stronger, so I don't know what exactly would be out of his reach. In any case, you can't just say some... some crazy magic," he spat, "is responsible for this!"

"All right, fine," Shikamaru replied through his teeth. "Believe what you want. I shouldn't have gotten you guys involved in the first place. Hinata! Kiba! Lee! Let's go."

"Um... All right..."

"Okay..."

"Yessir..."

* * *

"This will probably be the most I can manage for one day," Shiraga muttered, forming the hand signs again. He put his palm to his chest and closed his eyes.

* * *

"So... You think he willingly stopped kidnapping our shinobi before the... shorting-out incident?" Tsunade confirmed.

"Yes, ma'am," Kitaku replied. "There was a sizeable gap... Perhaps he was afraid of something."

"We were making little progress on finding him," the Hokage muttered. "Do you think there was something else he was afraid of?"

"It's likely. Do you remember," he started, "the failure of the ninja hounds to find any trails from the victims?"

"Yes. And?"

"The only jutsu we've found that would leave absolutely no trace was a Kekkei Genkai whose clan died out years ago... What this man is using is definitely something we haven't seen before."

"That makes sense... But how does that help us?"

"Since we've proven that," Kitaku responded, pulling out a manila file folder, "we've been able to direct our research toward finding similar incidents, and..." He laid the folder on her desk. "...We've found some."

* * *

"This... is very bad," Shiraga muttered, leaning wearily against the large jungle tree behind him. _It's simple to know the dimension I've come to, _he thought,_ since all visitors arrive in the same spot... But this is certainly not where I sent those shinobi._"So... What now?" Ulrich started, looking around the still-dark room.

* * *

"I don't know," Jeremy growled. "I don't want to risk sending you guys in this mess, but..." He sighed.

"Well, I guess I'll go ahead and check outside, to see if there's anything that looks like a X.A.N.A. attack," Yumi offered.

"Sure," Jeremy sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"I'll come, too," Ulrich said quickly, following Yumi.

"Sure, fine, just... come back," Jeremy mumbled.

* * *

"Hey! Shikamaru!"

"Huh?" The aforementioned shinobi paused on a tree branch. "Ino, Choji? What are you guys doing here?"

"Just making sure everything's all right," Ino replied, jumping over to the same tree as Shikamaru.

"You were taking a while," Choji added.

"Yeah, well..." Shikamaru sighed. "Everything's all right, more or less. At least, no one's in danger now."

" 'Kay... Then what else is wrong?" Ino replied.

"We... we lost some allies, is all. They wouldn't have helped much with our situation, anyway," he muttered.

* * *

"And you're sure this is credible information?" Tsunade asked.

"Very sure. While I can't guarantee all of these sightings were true," Kitaku replied, "it does give us some better ground to play on."

"I agree..." The Hokage looked back over the papers. "All of these unsolved disappearances do match our kidnapper's methods." She flipped over one of the news clippings. "And then the... occurrences."

"Yes. Everything from hordes of spirits invading to hurricanes originating miles away from the sea," Kitaku replied. "Even if some of these are fabricated, there are enough to validate the relationship between the kidnappings and the disasters."

"So, you think this is what he's afraid of?"

"I do. Until now, all kidnappings have been... strategic. Something he could benefit from personally. But now, the disappearances have suddenly gone from single people and small groups to... well, this."

"It's an issue of magnitude, then?"

"That's what I believe," Kitaku replied with a nod.

"And he's only suddenly begun to do things of this scale," Tsunade muttered. "So he's been influenced..."

"And," Kitaku sighed, "since our witnesses have identified him as wearing a Sound headband..."

"It must have been Orochimaru," the Hokage concluded, gritting her teeth.

* * *

"Jeremy?" Aelita fumbled her way over to her friend's chair. "Are you all right...?"

"Well, I don't know what's going on, I can't figure out a way to stop it, and I just kicked out a couple of good friends that know our secret. So, no. I don't think I'm 'all right'."

"Jeremy, I... I know this isn't anything we're used to," Aelita replied quietly, "but please don't act like this. I... don't like seeing you this way."

"I know; I'm sorry! I just... I just hate this," he muttered.


	49. Disappearing

**A/N:** Sorry for the wait, everyone. Found a new fandom and got a little writer's block... So I now present the penultimate chapter!

"...apparently a worldwide phenomenon," the reporter continued. "The electricity miraculously reappeared at the stroke of dawn in France, and similar accounts have been reported in other countries. But the recovery isn't being debated-it's the cause. While some have even blamed pranksters, it's obvious something much different is responsible..."

"Yumi!" Yumi's mother called. "Turn off the TV and get to school!"

"Right!"

* * *

"Hinata Hyuga?" the substitute called again. "Absent," he finally concluded, making a mark on his roll sheet.

"None of them are here," Aelita muttered, looking at the empty spots in the classroom. "Do you think they really... just left?"

"I guess so," Yumi replied quietly as the substitute marked Kiba absent.

* * *

"Couldn't we have at least stayed for breakfast?" Choji moaned.

"Oh, you'll survive," Ino snorted. "Besides, we weren't enrolled in the school, anyway, so you wouldn't have gotten anything if we stayed."

"Right..."

"So," Lee started as the group continued through the trees, "where exactly are we going, Shikamaru?"

"Somewhere secluded," Shikamaru grunted. "I don't know for sure, but if us being here screws things up, our exact location is probably more messed up than the rest of the dimension."

* * *

"All right," Shiraga sighed, blinking the sleep out of his eyes, "let's see if I have any more luck today." He formed the hand signs to his jutsu and disappeared.

* * *

The bell rang, and the students filed out of the classroom for lunch.

"So," Ulrich muttered, "back to the five of us, huh?"

"Guess so," Yumi replied, setting her tray on the table.

"There's nothing wrong with that," Jeremy muttered. "I mean, they wouldn't go telling everyone about X.A.N.A. when they're so worried about their stupid magic."

"And we can definitely handle X.A.N.A. by ourselves," Odd added, finishing off a roll.

"If he's still attacking," Aelita replied. "He hasn't launched anything since before the blackout-unless that was him. Now that I think about it," she started, tapping her fork on the side of her tray, "he hasn't made a replika in... quite a while now."

"Not since... before Hinata and the others arrived," Jeremy responded slowly.

"Even if Shikamaru was talking nonsense before," Aelita replied carefully, "do you think them coming could have somehow caused this?"

"I don't know," Jeremy muttered, taking a bite of his food. "I can't really make sense of any of this."

* * *

"Well, I'd say this is secluded enough," Kiba commented as the group of ninja settled among the trees.

"But what'll we do for food?" Choji started.

"Um, it looks like there are rabbits here..." Hinata responded, looking at a set of paw prints. "I guess I could set up some snares-" She stopped as a sudden, ear-splitting cracking noise came from behind her.

"What...?" She turned around, but no one was there.

Including the other ninja.

* * *

Shiraga looked about his new surroundings.

"Of all places to end up..." he muttered under his breath.

* * *

Ino looked around the forest, where everyone had been just moments ago.

"Shikamaru? Choji? ...Anyone?" She walked around, but still no one was in sight.

* * *

"Is anyone here?" Lee called loudly. He still got no response. "How strange," he muttered. "Everyone just disappeared..."

* * *

"What happened?" Shikamaru muttered. He tapped his palm on one of the trees, confirming it at least was actually there. As he pulled his hand back, though, he bumped into something else.

* * *

Ino yelped as something touched her shoulder, but calmed down when she realized it was Shikamaru.

"Sorry; I didn't notice you," she sighed, turning around.

"Didn't notice you, either," Shikamaru replied slowly.

* * *

"I'll have to get out of here quickly," Shiraga grunted, forming his first hand sign. But a sudden slash across his back stopped him before he could get to the second.

"Well, well," started a female voice as Shiraga turned around. "Looks like the little sorcerer's back."

* * *

The bell rang, interrupting Odd's rant about the new Subdigitals album.

"Let's get to gym, then," Yumi sighed, dumping her food tray.

"Yeah..." The Lyoko gang walked out the cafeteria doors together. And stopped just outside the cafeteria doors together.

"Is it just me," Odd started, "or did it get a lot darker outside?"

"I... don't think it's just you," Ulrich replied, looking up at the night sky confusedly.

"It's still 1:00, isn't it?" Aelita murmured, blinking at the stars.

"As far as I kno-" Jeremy was cut off by a loud cracking noise.

"Okay, this is really weird," Odd announced, turning around. "Let's go back insi..." He trailed off, staring at where the cafeteria had been moments ago. "Uh..."

* * *

"That's everyone..." Shikamaru said slowly, looking around the circle of ninja.

"What just happened?" Lee started.

"Heck if I know," the chunin sighed. "I'd say we all got sucked into alter dimensions or something... But if that were true, we wouldn't have been able to make contact with each other..." He muttered something and looked around. "All I know is whatever's going on isn't good."

* * *

"What's the meaning of this, Akabara?" Shiraga grunted as the woman pulled back, shaking some blood off the edge of her blade.

"You know you still have a good bounty on your head," the woman chuckled. "I'm not about to pass up that chance." She sighed, shuffling a hand through her red hair. "And what's with the formality all of a sudden? You know you can call me by my first name. Unless you think you're too good for that, too," she finished with a glare.

"All right, then, Asuka," Shiraga corrected hostilely, "what exactly made you, of all people, want to go after me?"

"Funny how you act like you don't know," Asuka laughed. "But," she started suddenly, "I think we've done enough talking." She surged forward, slashing her knife at Shiraga again, who didn't quite manage to dodge and got a red line across his shoulder for it.

"What are you doing?" Shiraga cried, pulling out a kunai to block Asuka's next strike. "You... I... I thought we were-"

"Oh, yes, we were," Asuka replied venomously, pulling her sword back to attack again. "But you know what? Real fianc s don't disappear on their wedding day!"

"My life was at stake!" Shiraga defended. "You know those hunters were after me!"

"Your life wasn't at stake at all! You just let your paranoia get the best of you, and I'm the one that suffered for it!" Asuka shouted, taking another strike at Shiraga, who failed to defend in time. As the man collapsed from his deep stomach wound, Asuka sheathed her sword. "And now," she finished, "you pay."

* * *

"What happened to the cafeteria?" Odd started slowly.

"I... don't know," Jeremy replied. He wiped off his glasses, as if they were the only thing keeping him from seeing the building.

"And I don't think this is some sort of X.A.N.A. attack, either," Yumi added, looking around.

"...Did you guys hear something?" Ulrich started, snapping his gaze to his left.

"Yeah, I think so-!" Aelita gasped as the ground beneath her feet suddenly vanished, leaving Jeremy to grab her hand before she fell down very far.

"Are you all right? What happened?" Yumi exclaimed.

"I'm okay," Aelita replied, though she didn't sound sure of it. "The ground just... disappeared..."

"And it doesn't look any different from the rest of the concrete here," Ulrich noted, tapping his foot on the shadowy, pitch-black cement.

"So we don't know if the rest of the ground is safe to walk on," Yumi concluded with a frown.

"I think we're blowing things out of proportion here," Odd declared. "Maybe Aelita is just falling for Jeremy!" He laughed at his own joke. "Get it? Fall? Falling... for..." He trailed off at the glares he recieved.


	50. Return to the Past

"All right," Shikamaru started, looking around the circle of ninja. "We'll keep moving for a little while, just in case. But, whatever you do, keep in contact with each other," he said, nodding at his hands, which were both connected to his neighbors' forearms. "That way, we're less likely to get separated again."

"Right."

* * *

Jeremy tugged, but he couldn't get Aelita out of the hole. "I could use a little help," he grunted.

"Coming," Odd replied. He started over toward Jeremy, though he couldn't see that well in the darkness. The purple-clad Lyoko warrior stepped over a few times easily.

"Aah!" he suddenly yelped, pitching over forwards. He wobbled back and forth a few times, in the end able to lean back on his left foot. He set his right back down carefully, making sure there was actually solid ground beneath it.

"Please tell me you're just messing with us," Ulrich sighed.

"I'm flattered you think I could pull that off... But, nope. There's no ground there." Odd waved his foot around a couple places, but couldn't find any more solid ground in Jeremy's direction.

* * *

"So, this is him?" the gravelly, high-pitched voice questioned. "The sorcerer?"

"Yup," Asuka replied, using her foot to nudge the unconscious body closer to the dealer. He chuckled and poked his small, dirty fingers onto the body, making sure it was real.

"Yes, this one has been on the run for quite a while, hasn't he?" rasped the dealer. "There's a good price on his head."

"And I hope I get every bit of it."

"Minus the handling fee," the dealer hissed back.

"Fine." Asuka shrugged. "Take him away." She looked on, feeling nothing as the dealer dragged her former love through the dirt.

* * *

Aelita whimpered silently as Jeremy's hand slipped the tiniest bit.

"Hang on," the bespectacled blonde instructed wearily, not knowing what else to say.

"I will..." Aelita murmured.

* * *

"So, our suspect has the ability to teleport mass distances," Tsunade started, habitually pacing in her office. "In other words, sending out more normal search parties will be useless." Her high heels clacked loudly as she continued pacing. "But we know of no one else with this sort of jutsu, so it's our only option." She clenched and unclenched her fist angrily. "What a paradox," she growled.

* * *

Shiraga was only vaguely aware of a throbbing from his abdomen when he first came to. But by the time he was able to blink his eyes open, the pain had grown.

"What's going on?" he muttered hoarsely, looking around. He was surrounded by dusty wood tables and floors and walls, one of which held a dusty, red door. Shiraga started to stumble over to the door, his feet not constrained like his hands. He ignored his stomach wound as best as he could.

"You're awake." Shiraga jerked at the sound of a gravelly voice.

"Yes," the shinobi replied. "Would you care to tell me what's going on here?" The other man, on the other side of the door, chuckled.

"Just desserts, my lovely sorcerer, just desserts."

"What did I ever do to you?"

"Oh, nothing personal," the dealer laughed. "But your use of black magic must be punished. I'm just turning you in, as is my duty."

"Black magic," Shiraga scoffed. "What I practice is not black magic."

"Of course not..." The dealer chuckled.

* * *

Jeremy tried to tighten his grip as Aelita slipped a millimeter further. "And you're sure there's no way you can get over here?"

"Yeah. I could try a huge, leaping jump, but even if I made it, I'd probably knock you over."

"Perfect," Jeremy growled.

"Well..." Aelita started faintly, "we... we might be exaggerating things. For all we know, the bottom might be just a meter down..."

"Hopefully," Jeremy replied. "But..." He didn't have to finish.

* * *

Ino blinked at her teammate's instructions confusedly. "Sleep? But it's only, like, 3:00!"

"I know," Shikamaru replied, "but we don't know how much longer we can stay here without endangering people. And if you can only remember what happened to you-and what hand signs we have to use-after having a nightmare, you'll obviously have to be asleep first."

"Well... All right..." Ino slowly laid down on a dry pile of grass.

* * *

Shiraga wasn't quite sure when he has lost consciousness again. All he knew was that, when he reopened his eyes, he was upright, secured to some sort of pole at his back.

"Look who's awake."

"Asuka?" Shiraga strained his neck to see the redhead walking toward him.

"Who else?"

The shinobi attempted to move, but his chest and arms were too tightly bound to the wood behind him. He only grimaced as Asuka stopped in front of him.

"Finally time for you to serve your sentence," she spat, throwing something that landed with a clunk below Shiraga's feet. He looked down to see a small pile of firewood beneath him, then looked back up with horror.

"You can't mean-!" Asuka laughed.

"Of course. What else do we do to black magicians?" She smirked and began to walk off.

"No! Asuka! You-You can't let me die yet!"

"Oh? Why's that?" the redhead responded in a monotone, spinning around to look at the man ready to burn at the stake.

"There's too much at stake!" Shiraga yelled. "I can't stay here! There's an interdimensional crisis I-"

"Oh, so that's it!" Asuka interrupted furiously. "You just have to solve some crisis for your precious 'greater good', huh? Of course you wouldn't want an extra second to live so you could redeem yourself to me!" She whipped back around to stalk away. "You never cared! All you care about is your fabricated 'interdimensional' catastrophe! Your own little world that only you can save! Well, guess what? You're not saving anyone. And no one's saving you."

"Oy, Asuka?" The redhead looked over at the dry-faced speaker, who was holding a small torch.

"That's me." The man held his torch up toward the redhead.

"Would you like to do the honors?"

"Don't mind if I do." Asuka took the torch, took one last, hateful look at Shiraga, and threw the flame at his feet.

* * *

Jeremy's hands slipped.

"No!" He flung his hands down far as he could, but he couldn't reach Aelita.

* * *

"Well, it's not like you'll remember anything else," Shikamaru said. "So, no, you don't have to sleep."

" 'Kay, good." Kiba looked around. "Do you think I should go find something to eat?" Shikamaru shook his head.

"We can't get separated. We'll just have to tough it out."

" 'Kay."

* * *

"Aelita!" Jeremy stared in horror at the blackness where his friend was moments ago.

"I-I'm still okay! S-Still falling, b-but okay!" she called back, poorly masking the fear in her voice.

"What are we going to do?" Yumi asked.

"Well, I don't see any rope around, and there's probably not enough ground to walk around and find any," Ulrich muttered.

* * *

"...yeah, and..." Hinata trailed off, looking away from her teammate.

"What?"

"Lee...?" Kiba turned to look at the green-clad shinobi, who was gripping his head and had his eyes tightly shut.

"Hey! You all right?" Lee didn't respond. "Hey!" Lee suddenly blinked his eyes back open.

"I know the last hand sign."

"What?"

"I know the last hand sign!" Lee repeated, sounding more excited. "I-I finally remember!" Shikamaru's eyes widened.

"What was it?"

"Like this," Lee replied breathlessly, froming the Ram sign.

"Ino! Choji! Wake up!" Ino rolled over to her side.

"What? What's going on? I haven't had a nightmare yet..."

"Don't need one. We have all the hand signs."

"What?" Choji responded incredulously. "Really?"

"Yep," Shikamaru replied with a grin.

* * *

A loud shriek pierced the air, making Jeremy flinch.

"Aelita!" he shouted. "Aelita, are you okay?" There was no response.

* * *

"So, that means it's Dragon, Snake, Ox, Ram," Shikamaru concluded.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Kiba asked with a grin.

"Nothing much," Shikamaru replied. "Lee! Grab on to my arm or something since you can't use the jutsu yourself." The aforementioned shinobi nodded and complied. "Well, everyone," Shikamaru said, readying his hands for a jutsu, "let's go home." The group made the hand signs and faded to black.

* * *

Jeremy stared down at the captious blackness, trying to find some sign that Aelita might be okay. But there was nothing.

"Aelita?" he called again faintly, though he knew no one would answer.

* * *

Hinata opened her eyes slowly. She was no longer in the Kadic forest, though the other ninja were still next to her.

"Did it work...?" She looked around the wind-rustled branches, but wasn't quite sure where she was.

"Yes. Yes, it definitely worked!" Shikamaru laughed. He took one last second to make sure he was where he suspected before leading the group back to the village.

* * *

"Whoa!" Odd yelled, the ground suddenly shifting beneath him. He fell over, striking his head on the ground.

"Odd?" Yumi called, looking over to see the blonde lying on the ground. "Are you-Whoa, hey!" The ground suddenly tripped her, taking away her consciousness as well.

* * *

"Hey-!," Izumo started, looking at the ninja headed toward the village gates. "Is that...?"

"I... I think it's them!" Kotetsu replied, standing up.

* * *

Jeremy listened to his breathing as he started to regain his consciousness. _Did everyone get knocked out?_ he thought faintly. It was another minute before he opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was the light. Next, the solid, continuous concrete around him. Then, the rosette crumpled just a meter away from him.

"Aelita!" he exclaimed, hurriedly scrambling over to where his friend lay.

"...Jeremy...?" Aelita slowly rolled over and opened her eyes.

"You're all right," Jeremy said breathlessly.

"Yeah... I guess so." Aelita sat up and looked around. The rest of the Lyoko crew was starting to wake up. "It looks like... everything's gone back to normal," she said, confused.

"Yeah. I wonder..." Jeremy pulled out his cell phone and dialed Shikamaru.

* * *

"Well, it's... great to have you back," Tsunade concluded happily.

Ringdingding! Ringdingding!

"...What's that?"

"Oh. My... cell phone," Shikamaru replied slowly, shuffling through his pocket until he found the thing. "...Hello?"

"Hey, Shikamaru?" the voice on the other side was a little fuzzy, but still intelligible.

"Jeremy? Hey."

"Hey. I, uh..." There was a sigh. "I wanted to say sorry about not believing you."

"No problem," Shikamaru replied. He looked around the room, where everyone who hadn't traveled with him seemed very confused. "Listen, I'm... kind of busy. But I'll call you back when I can."

"Oh? All right. Well, I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

"No," Shikamaru laughed, "you probably won't. We'll talk in a minute."

"Okay?"

"Okay. See you."

"Bye." Shikamaru hung up.

"Was that Jeremy?" Hinata asked.

"Yup." Shikamaru fingered his cell phone before putting it back in his pocket. "Guess this thing gets pretty good reception.

* * *

"So, Asuka..." the man started, taking a seat next to her. "I hear you were once about to marry that man?" Asuka stared hard at the pile of ashes where Shiraga was yesterday.

"Yeah..."

* * *

Ringdingding!

"Hello?"

"Hey, Hinata." It was Jeremy. "You busy?"

"No, not really. What's happening?"

"We've got another Replika. You up for some X.A.N.A.-butt-kicking?"

"Sure. Should I call the others?"

"They're already here."

"Okay. I'll be right there!"

"See ya." Hinata stepped away from the training post, made four hand signs, and disappeared.

* * *

A/N: Well, everyone, that's the end. I hope you all enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. *salutes and walks away*


End file.
